Stalking and harassment is now a crime, providing strengthened protections for women and girls facing stalking. It carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
If someone’s behaviour is making you feel unsafe or distressed, reach out for help. Listen to your gut instinct and try not to minimise anything that’s happened to you. If you are in immediate danger, call 111. If you need Police but can’t speak for fear of harm, you will be asked to press keys for emergency assistance. For non‑urgent concerns, contact Police on 105 or online.
If you’re a victim-survivor of stalking and harassment, or supporting someone who is, a new law helps validate your experiences and its impacts.
The law covers a wider range of scenarios. Not all of them are included on this page, so please see NZ Police and the Ministry of Justice provide more detailed information and factsheets:
For-people-affected-by-stalking-and-harassment.pdf
Stalking and harassment | New Zealand Police
Stalking and harassment disproportionately impacts women and girls
Stalking and harassment is a harmful pattern of unwanted behaviour that intrudes on women and girls’ lives. It can seriously undermine their sense of safety, stability, and wellbeing. Stalking and harassment behaviours should always be taken seriously as these behaviours often escalate.
Women are overrepresented as victim-survivors of stalking – and victim-survivors from a range of backgrounds and communities experience stalking and its impact differently.
Stalking behaviour is persistent and controlling, undermining victims' feelings of safety and autonomy, leaving them intimidated and unable to live freely.
Victim-survivors report experiencing fear, distress, and disruption to their daily life.
The stalking law
The law focuses on patterns of behaviour so that victims can be protected earlier, before harm escalates.
A pattern is defined as at least one specified act on two separate occasions within a two‑year period, where the offender knows they are likely to cause fear or distress to the victim.
Police may issue an offender a stalking and harassment notice after a single incident, to inform a person their behaviour is causing fear or distress and any further behaviour may amount to an offence. Police will tell you before the notice is served so they can create a safety plan with you to ensure you’re safe and have actions you can take.
The law, and updates to related laws, gives NZ Police and courts stronger tools to safeguard victims and reduce ongoing risk.
At sentencing, courts can consider stalking and harassment as an aggravating factor, issue restraining orders, issue harmful digital communications orders, and disqualify an offender from holding firearms and private security licences, or make a firearms prohibition order to reduce the risk of further harm.
Victims are protected from being personally cross-examined by self-represented defendants in stalking and harassment proceedings.
See what stalking behaviours are covered.
Ruth Money, Chief Victims Advisor
It doesn't matter your age, your ethnicity, your stage in life, your community that you belong to. This stalking law is here to protect you… it believes you and it makes sure that you are supported along the way, along the journey.”
Ruth Money, Chief Victims Advisor