Private investigators must be trained to spot signs of domestic abuse and stalking

That 64% of such investigators are former police officers, trained to protect victims of crime, reveals the problem is not primarily a lack of expertise but of accountability. Photograph: Edward George/Alamy

I was grateful to read the Guardian investigation revealing how perpetrators of abuse are using private investigators to further harm by proxy, exposing the unseen threat faced by victims and their supporters (You feel violated’: how stalkers outsource abuse to private investigators, 11 January).

As the manager of a sexual and domestic abuse service, I see the impact of stalking on a monthly basis, not as an adjacent concern but as one of the clearest predictors of intimate partner homicide we have. Victim-survivors who disclose stalking and associated behaviours are rarely paranoid; they are often correctly identifying imminent danger.