{"id":13560,"date":"2026-05-29T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=13560"},"modified":"2026-05-29T17:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T05:34:21","slug":"survivor-network-warns-new-anti-stalking-law-could-chill-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=13560","title":{"rendered":"Survivor Network Warns New Anti\u2011Stalking Law Could Chill Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Mike Bain\/cvnznews.com<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A survivor\u2011advocacy organisation is warning that New Zealand\u2019s new anti\u2011stalking legislation may unintentionally hinder those working to expose institutional abuse and pursue public\u2011interest accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Aotearoa (SNAP Aotearoa)<\/strong> says aspects of the law are drafted so broadly that they could be used against survivors, whistle\u2011blowers, journalists, and advocacy groups engaged in legitimate scrutiny of powerful institutions. The organisation argues that repeated communication, public criticism, or coordinated advocacy over a two\u2011year period could be misinterpreted as stalking\u2011related behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The network notes that survivor\u2011led accountability efforts often involve sustained communication with churches, government agencies, and care providers, as well as media engagement and coordinated survivor action. It fears these activities could be chilled if institutions attempt to characterise them as causing \u201cfear or distress\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSurvivors of institutional abuse already face enormous barriers when speaking publicly or seeking accountability,\u201d spokesperson Barbara Taylor said. \u201cThere is concern that laws drafted too broadly could create a chilling effect for survivors, journalists, whistle\u2011blowers, and advocacy groups engaged in legitimate public\u2011interest activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organisation is also questioning the use of police\u2011issued warning notices under the legislation, saying they could be misapplied in situations involving public criticism or investigative reporting. It is seeking clarity on what safeguards exist to prevent the law being used to suppress lawful advocacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The network is calling for transparency around who was consulted during development of the Bill, including whether survivor groups, civil\u2011liberties organisations, or investigative journalists were involved \u2014 and whether religious institutions or organisations currently facing abuse\u2011related scrutiny made submissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While emphasising that protecting victims of genuine stalking is essential, the organisation says the law must also protect democratic freedoms, survivor advocacy, and public\u2011interest journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt would be a profound irony if legislation inspired by the experiences of vulnerable victims ultimately created new risks for those trying to expose wrongdoing,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The network is urging the Government to provide clearer public\u2011interest protections, stronger safeguards for survivor advocacy, and ongoing independent oversight of how the law is applied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Mike Bain\/cvnznews.com A survivor\u2011advocacy organisation is warning that New Zealand\u2019s new anti\u2011stalking legislation may unintentionally hinder those working to expose institutional abuse and pursue public\u2011interest accountability. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Aotearoa (SNAP Aotearoa) says aspects of the law are drafted so broadly that they could be used against survivors, whistle\u2011blowers,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41],"tags":[1229,113,638],"coauthors":[709],"class_list":{"0":"post-13560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-anti-stalking","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-snap"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Stalker.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13562,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13560\/revisions\/13562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13560"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=13560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}