Ann Moulds, Warrior Advocate

On June 20th of this year, I had the privilege of being one of the presenters for the first International Conference & Summit on Dynamics Between the Stalker and the Victim. The conference was put on by ASS Action Against Stalking, Scotland, which I am one of their Expert Advisors. Action Against Stalking was developed by a victim advocate, that I am about to talk about in this piece, one Ann Moulds.

I first encountered Ann when she reached out to for any background I had on stalking as well as what I would recommend be placed in a proposal, she was currently working on to add a national stalking law to the U.K.’s Protection from Harassment Act, which in fact was finally passed into law in 2012 under Section 2A, of the Harassment Act. Over a period of months, I sent her several copies of my first book, How To Stop a Stalker, as well as information that might assist her and her associates in how to develop their stalking legislation, which Ann knew I had done for others in the past. 

During the course of our conversations, Ann related her terrifying experience with her Stranger stalker, who over a period of years had traumatized with sexually explicit threats and other forms of harassment that she allowed me to share in my latest book, Antidote For A Stalker. Once Ann was able to identify her stalker, she found that the criminal justice system was not one that tended to support folks who had succumbed into being a victim of stalking. Even though her stalking experience had caused her to lose weight, become very depressed, as well as suffer from other mental and physical issues; along with beginning to exhibit extreme fear for not only herself but her daughter; which later unfortunately caused her to move from her home of the last thirty years, that was the last straw. It was then she decided enough was enough, shed her trauma and moved from being a victim to becoming an intense warrior advocate.

Over the many years of dealing with stalking victims, I have been moved to find that some, many like Ann, who are not only strong, but have backgrounds in psychology and other medical professions, have thrown down the gauntlet and not only perused their stalkers, but pushed for better and stronger legislation against these types of individuals. I am extremely proud to see them pushing the envelope and getting positive results. I have also advised many of those that I have instructed that if they do become a victim of stalking; oftentimes, they will end up becoming their own advocate when presenting their cases to local law enforcement.

 During the course of her crusade against not only stalking but domestic violence, which is oftentimes part and parcel of stalking, Ann was able to push for and get what I refer to as The National Stalking Training Academy, which was sanctioned by the United Kingdom’s Home Office. This empaneled several knowledge folks, such as Crown prosecutors, victim advocates, and others, like Hamish Brown, MBE, and even a lone Yank, like me to be available to assist those that had questions, or needed direction when it came to stalking. (Alas, this fine organization lost funding a few years back.) Some of the things Ann did to pull herself up and better hers and others lives was to become a clinical psychotherapist and trainer. As a result of her tireless efforts, she was heavily involved in the getting the first United Kingdom Stalking Awareness Day, April 18, 2012. She has received the Scotswoman of the Year award, as well as many others like the 2019 Women Of Inspiration Award (Scotland), and has developed programs to train those in schools and other organizations about the ills of stalking, and what to do if a stalking transpires. She and her organization were also instrumental in the introduction of stalking into the Council of Europe’s European Convention (Istanbul Treaty ratified in August of 2014.) Her group also pushed for the Victim & Witnesses (Scotland) Act of 2014. (Note: Action Against Stalking-Scotland is considered a charity for those of you who read this article and wish to donate to the organization-just a thought.)

So, this one-time victim quickly raised up and became a whirlwind force for those that have been victimized by a stalker, and as we say in the US, she “just keeps on trucking” down the road, and who knows where she will end up. In my and I am sure other’s opinion, she is a true warrior for her cause, and I am truly glad to have made her acquaintance.

Since I have met Ann, I have been privileged to have begun working with other advocates for change in both the area of domestic violence, as well as stalking in the United Kingdom. Those folks include Laura Richards, Alexis Bowater, and many others, including several in the law enforcement community. In fact, I recently was reviewing the 5000 plus LinkedIn contacts that I have (I am 73, and have been doing this for a while) and found that over a third are from the U.K., interesting.