A woman is petitioning for phone numbers to be removed from delivery packages after she was stalked by a neighbour

This year has really highlighted the dangers that women face from violence, how complicated some of these types of violence are, and how deeply they are entrenched in our daily routines.

Trainee nurse Eleanor has identified the threat that having your contact number on a package delivery can be, after starting a petition to “stop personal mobile numbers being put on parcels.” She decided to do this after her experience of being stalked and abused by her neighbour after he acquired her phone number when he took in a delivery for her.

In the bio for the petition, Eleanor outlines what happened in detail: a delivery of books for her university course was delivered to her neighbour when she wasn’t home, during which time he was able to obtain her number from the parcel. 

Her neighbour then went on to abuse his access to her personal number by calling, messaging asking her to have sex with him (and offering to pay her) and sending “unwarranted sexual photographs.”

Even after she declined and threatened to call the police, he continued with his threatening behaviour, making Eleanor feel uncomfortable in her own home.

“He started to lick his windows whenever I would leave my house and on occasions I would find him staring into my house,” she wrote. “I became increasingly worried, to the point I didn’t even open the blinds in my house because I didn’t want him seeing me.”

These events led to Eleanor changing her number and moving house. The stalker has also since received a restraining order, but she has decided to take things further to get to the crux of the issue – the fact he was able to obtain access to her phone number in the first place.

Now, she wants to spread word of these risks with her petition, hoping that other people won’t find themselves in the same position as her. “I do not want anybody else to have to go through what I did, this has affected my studying, mental health and I have spent a lot of money to move house and protect myself when it all could have been avoided.

“How many times have your parcels been delivered to neighbours? Probably a lot!” she wrote.

“We do not know who is going to get hold of your personal details. I am aware not all neighbours are like him, but you just never know.”

For more information about violence against women, please visit End Violence Against Women‘s website. 

If you’re concerned you’re being stalked, please call the National Stalking Helpline on 0808 802 0300.