9 out of ten people murdered are stalked by their killer.

Many people around the world with an online presence deal with 'trolls', 'cyberbullying', and downright 'stalking'. Many times police forces are powerless to launch investigations at all due to the conduct not fitting 'nicely' enough into an offence. Other times the conduct is not taken seriously enough, as harassment and stalking is often not taken seriously. The fear of arrest for those offences is often not enough to discourage abusers and harassers.

Threats to kill carries a maximum sentence of 7 years, and is a crime often taken very seriously; police forces tend to be very proactive in making arrests. The same should take place with threats to rape, especially as murder and rape are seen as similarly serious offences.

Threats to rape carry such massive psychological harm. The distress it places on the victim can be debilitating, and we've seen several social media influencers and even MPs, speak out about the immense impact of such conduct on not only their mental health, but their day-to-day life.

Additionally, online abuse that escalates to the level of threats to rape, is often made by someone obsessed with the victim, meaning there is a genuinely credible risk they will inflict physical harm on them.

Making threats to rape a seperate criminal offence will also make liasing with social media sites and online platforms easier, as requesting information in a harassment or stalking investigation may require the online platform to assess - in their opinion - if the conduct rises to such a level. With the specific crime of threats to rape, it will be immediately clear whether the offence is being committed and therefore more easily justify releasing identfying information to third parties such as as law enforcement.

Currently, a single threatening communication that includes a threat to rape, may go unpunishable, and often does. The new Online Safety Act does not go far enough in criminalising this behaviour.

We need to change this, and the change is so simple. It is already a crime in Australia, and we need to bring it to England & Wales. Enough is enough. People doing this need to be investigated.

Sign this petition and share it where you can. We'll be on various social media sites soon.