Maryland residents: Urge your legislators to protect stalking survivors!
Things we do every day - updating a Facebook status, tweeting, or using the GPS on our phones - can be misused by abusers to stalk, harass, surveil, and control stalking victims. Yet, in Maryland this type of stalking is not included in the definition of abuse and therefore isn’t grounds for a protective order.
SB 121 expands the definition of abuse in the domestic violence context to include abuse perpetrated through phone, email, computer, and camera. To protect victims, it is imperative that the law is updated to include these modern forms of stalking.
Email or call members of the Judicial Proceedings Committee in the State Senate and tell them to submit a favorable report on SB 121 .
Sample Script:
I’m calling to support SB 121 – Family Law, Domestic Violence, and the Definition of Abuse. Our current domestic violence laws are outdated, leaving thousands in Maryland unprotected. I urge Senator [name] to submit a favorable report on this bill and expand the definition of abuse to include stalking through phones, email, computers, and cameras.