Anti-stalking legislation will be presented before the House of Assembly during the next parliamentary session, former Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness announced.

"Government considers it to be a serious problem,'' he said. "It (anti-stalking legislation) is a new concept and it has to be done right.

"We are in the process of developing and drafting the concept. We know it is a major problem for some people in this country. We believe legislation to be very important.'' His comments came following a 29-year-old woman's plea for better protection against her former partner whom she said repeatedly arrives at her home threatening to kill her.

Already, she said, she had been bitten, beaten and stabbed by the man at her home and in public. She claimed he had also caused $3,000 of damage to her car and jeopardised her job after he dragged her out of her car by her hair and attacked her with a knife outside a nightclub. She was forced to take time off work and lost several weeks' income.

While she was taking the man to court over the stabbing, she said she had to wait until January until he goes to trial. But until then, all she had was a restraining order against him which she said meant next to nothing.

She added she had been told by Police they cannot arrest the man unless he was on the property and she said she was tired of repeating her story over and over again to different officers after each incident.

At present, offenders can only be prosecuted once they have committed an offence or breached a restraining order.

But under anti-stalking legislation, stalking victims would simply have to produce a combination of evidence to show they are likely to be injured by the stalker.

Community and Media Relations officer P.c. Gary Venning admitted stalking did not exist on the books as an offence in Bermuda.

Police can do nothing until a person has committed an offence, he said. After that, unless an act of violence has been committed, victims of stalking can prosecute only on the grounds of intruding on the privacy of a female or trespassing.

He advised that if complaints were ongoing, victims of stalking should contact their parish constables. However, in the event of a specific incident, officers on duty would be called in.

But the woman claimed that is not enough, adding she lived in constant fear her stalker will reappear.

"I am a nervous wreck,'' she said. "I don't go out because I know he is out there.

"He has threatened to kill me. He has called me at home to tell me he will finish me off. I don't feel free to go anywhere. I'm trying to get on with my life. I just want to be left alone.'' She said she was angry she has so little protection under present legislation against her attacker.

"What gets on my nerves is that for them (the Police) to arrest him, he has to be here when they arrives. The letter doesn't mean anything. It's like it's in vain even though I paid over $200 for it.

"He's already stabbed me and they've let him out on bail. He has to go to court in January but I could be dead by then.'' "There is no justice being done,'' she said. "I'm just going making statement after statement and nothing is being done. There's so many cops dealing with the case and I have to repeat the whole thing over and over. It's irritating.'' Physical Abuse Centre Chair Mrs. Arlene Swan admitted restraining orders offer no sense of safety to the victims of stalkers.

"Our laws are outdated,'' she said. "At the end of the day, nobody is safe if someone decides to stalk them.''