Whither the Protection for Cyberstalking Victims? Some evidence from Malaysia

Abstract

Cyberstalking leads to a chain of reactions such as identity theft, rape, and even murder. Despite the severe ramifications of cyberstalking, the perception of the adequacy of the law and the legal protection for victims remain ambiguous. This paper aims at examining the perception of the criminalisation of such crime, the gendered nature of such crime and the attendant legal protection for its victims. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology. The preliminary findings revealed that such crime is not considered as a gendered crime and there exists ambivalence on the perception of the crime and the legal protection of victims.