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Simmons hopes to protect stalking victims

Cambridge - As she described being "thrown against a fence and pummeled in the face" by a man who stalked her, newly elected Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons pleaded with rapt lawmakers and activists to push for broader criteria for receiving a restraining order and more protections for victims of stalking.

Simmons described a life of constant fear, always looking over her shoulder as she avoided her stalker, a man with whom she once had a relationship.

"No woman should have to live like that any day of her life," she said.

Simmons, joined by Sen. Pam Resor (D-Acton) and anti-domestic violence advocates from Jane Doe, Inc. and Feel Safe Again Inc., marked the fifth annual Stalking Awareness Month by calling for the passage of three bills. The Cambridge mayor is the newest voice in a years-long effort to pass more stringent laws to protect stalking victims.

Resor is the lead sponsor of a bill (S 1002) that would allow stalking victims to get criminal restraining orders against stalkers with whom they have no established relationship. Currently, Resor said, victims are only able to obtain restraining orders against people with whom they have an established relationship.

Resor said she would be meeting soon with Senate President Therese Murray to discuss her bill. The bill is stalled in the Judiciary Committee, where it has sat without a public hearing since it was filed over a year ago. In February 2006, committee co-chair Sen. Robert Creedon Jr. said he considered the stalking protection bill a priority.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 million women and 371,000 men are stalked each year in the United States. Seven percent of stalking victims leave their jobs as a result and more than a quarter miss some work, according to Jane Doe Inc. statistics.

The family of Sandra Berfield, whose death in 2000 was the impetus for a stalking law passed that year, joined Resor and said that if the senator's pending bill had been enacted at that time, Berfield would still be alive.

Berfield, a waitress, was killed by a restaurant patron who stalked her for years before delivering a package bomb to her house, relatives said. Berfield sought a restraining order against the man but because she had no direct relationship with him, her request was rejected.

"This tragedy could have been prevented," said Cheryl Darisse, Berfield's sister. "We need to help other victims become survivors."

Two other bills, both sponsored by Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem, aim to prevent housing discrimination against victims of domestic violence and stalking and establish employment leave and safety remedies for victims of domestic violence.