I’m leaving work when I see it, his bike. Chained to a railing outside the front of my office like handcuffs. I scan the streets jumpily, expecting to see him staring at me, waiting, but High Street Kensington is full of people. My breathing is raggedy, as it often is now, from anxiety and some fear. We were once in love — or something I thought was love, anyway — but when someone won’t leave you alone, when they call non-stop and message 100 times a day, you expect them to always be right behind you. Tiny things, like unexpected announcements on trains or someone running past you can stop your heart. I ran to my tube and walked the whole length of the platform to check he wasn’t behind me and about to board it. On a train you were trapped.
One in seven people over the age of 16 have been the victim of stalking at least once, and it won’t surprise anyone to hear that women and the young are most affected (according to the Office of National Statistics in 2024). But this week a little more power moved to the victim thanks to Nicola Thorp and MPs Jess Phillips and Emily Thornberry.
