Netflix hit show Baby Reindeer has sparked a wave of stalking complaints, with one charity reporting a 47 percent increase in calls compared to last year.
The National Stalking Helpline revealed it has helped 832 victims, compared to 564 this time last year. The increase is attributed to the release of the much-discussed seven-part miniseries.
Month on month, the charity also saw a 26 per cent increase in calls between March and April. The mirror reports.
Baby Reindeer is based on comedian Richard Gadd’s real-life experience of being stalked by a woman, portrayed in the show as ‘Martha’ and played by Jessica Gunning.
Gadd says he received 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, letters totaling 106 pages and 350 hours of voicemail messages from his stalker over four and a half years.
Netflix hit show Baby Reindeer has led to a wave of calls to the National Stalking Helpine, which reported a 47 percent increase in the number of victims helped compared to last year
Baby Reindeer is based on comedian Richard Gadd’s real-life experience of being stalked by a woman, portrayed in the show as ‘Martha’ and played by Jessica Gunning.
The national helpline – run by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, which was set up in 1986 after the disappearance of a 25-year-old estate agent – said it welcomed the increase in calls as it shows victims can get the support they need. .
Policy officer Tallulah Belassie-Page said: ‘Shows like Baby Reindeer do an excellent job of raising awareness about the crime of stalking, especially for male victims who may not have felt empowered to seek help.’
One male victim, who said he, like Gadd, had been stalked by a woman while working in a pub, said: ‘After months of text messages and items left for me at work, I alerted the police in the assumption that this would happen. ended the nightmare, but I was completely wrong.
‘I’ve been reeling from the whole thing for the last few years and feeling in disbelief, but the show and Gadd’s courage to dramatize his own experience normalized my experience and made me feel less alone – there I am I am eternally grateful for that.’
According to a statement on the helpline website about the show, about 14 percent of victims seeking help identify as male, while 17 percent of perpetrators identify as female.
The chariyy said: ‘In light of the widespread media interest in Richard Gadd’s Netflix series Baby Reindeer, we would like to commend all the victims of stalking who have had the courage to come forward and seek support for this devastating crime.
‘The experiences described in Baby Reindeer are a shocking reminder of the extent to which stalkers will pursue their victims in any way they can and how frightening this is for anyone who is a victim of such fixated and obsessive behaviour.
‘While this is primarily a crime that disproportionately affects women, with approximately 64% of stalking victims identifying as female and 71% of perpetrators identifying as male, there is no such thing as a typical stalker or stalking victim and Baby Reindeer emphasizes the fact that anyone can experience this.’
Although Gadd never named his stalker, online sleuths quickly identified Fiona Harvey, 58, who says she has suffered death threats and abuse from internet trolls as a result of the series.
Fiona Harvey broke her cover and gave her first TV interview to Piers Morgan about the show
Baby Reindeer has sparked debate and worldwide acclaim since it was released by Netflix last month.
The latest viewing figures show that the series has been viewed 60 million times so far.
However, the success of the series was not without controversy.
In previous interviews, Gadd has said that the episode with his stalker – whom he has never named – was “resolved” and that “the situation… with the person who stalked me is definitely over.”
Both Gadd and Netflix also emphasized that the storyline does not reveal the stalker’s true identity.
The comedian previously claimed to have concealed the identity of his stalker to the extent that he said: ‘I don’t think she would recognize herself’.
But online sleuths quickly identified Fiona Harvey, 58, who says she has suffered death threats and abuse from internet trolls as a result of the series and has now hired a lawyer amid claims she could face a defamation suit.
And yesterday her side of the story was reinforced by a former barmaid who worked with Gadd at the famous pub where he claims he was stalked, saying Harvey was ‘targeted as a joke’.
The woman, who is now in her early 30s, said she felt ‘uncomfortable’ working at the Hawley Arms in Camden because of its ‘misogynistic culture’ fueled by ‘drug use, alcohol and promiscuousness’.
She told MailOnline: ‘Something doesn’t sit right with me about him portraying himself as the innocent party and being stalked. It just doesn’t fit my image of working there.
‘I worked there for the same years as him, with the same employees.
“There was an underlying joke going on. I feel sorry for her. She was clearly vulnerable and clearly lonely.
‘I think she was meant as a joke between the male staff and he made her laugh.
‘It must have given her the impression that he liked her, hence the alleged stalking.
‘I just don’t like it when someone who is vulnerable is taken advantage of.
‘They targeted someone who was vulnerable and thought it was funny. I really feel for her.
‘She’s clearly not doing well. Why would you pursue someone who is clearly not stable?’
A former colleague of Baby Reindeer star Richard Gadd cast doubt on the actor’s claims that he was targeted by a stalker at the famous pub where they worked (Picture: The Hawley Arms)
Richard Gadd based his Baby Reindeer to show his experience at the Hawley Arms