Stalking Laws in New Mexico?

I just got through reading on the front page of the journal how a local news reporter is being stalked by someone. The paper made it sound like she was either nuts or that somehow because of the way she looks it was all her fault that she is being stalked. He employer is taking the standard New Mexico male stand that it started at home and due to budget constraints it is not our problem. The life of a woman in this state is not worth much if how we treat our stalking victims is any representation or for that matter how this state treats any women who is a victim of crime.

The police will tell a woman that there is nothing they can do because judges don’t take it serious. The judges tell victims that it is up to the police to enforce the limited number of laws on the books but it is really up to the victims to protect themselves and that the court cannot protect them. The state says that we have laws and they simple need to be enforced so it is not their fault that women are being killed or gravely harmed by mentally ill stalkers. This is what we call passing the buck and it is costing women their lives everyday in this state.

This state is stuck in the nineteen fifties attitude that you should have a big strong man at home to protect yourself if you plan on working in a field that brings you into contact with the public. I interview people and build relationships with those people all of the time but that does not mean that I have any true personal relationships with these individuals. It is part of the job to make these individuals feel comfortable so they will talk with you. I can count on one hand the number of real personal friendships that have come from my being a political blogger. I am sure that the local news reporter is facing the same problem where her job brought her into contact with an unstable individual who thinks just because she was doing her job and treating the public nice that somehow they have a relationship.

We need stronger laws to protect female victims of stalkers. We need to give the police training in how to enforce those laws and the technology to check faster on restraining orders. Judges need to take personal threats against women more seriously and they need to understand that the legal system is there to help the victims and protect their lives. Until this attitude is changed more women in this state are going to die at the hands of their stalkers. My personal advice to this woman reporter is to buy a gun and get the training and permits to use it. If the legal system refuses to protect you then kill the stalker because it will be in self defense and it will not be your fault for having to do so. If women started to kill more of these stalkers then maybe the state would start to deal with this problem since the criminal appears to have more rights and protections under the law.