Alexis Bowater
Alexis Bowater (born c.1966) is a former British television journalist and presenter.
Biography
The daughter of Sir Euan, 3rd Baronet Bowater and Lady Bowater,[1] Alexis was born and brought up in Chagford, Devon. She graduated from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with a bachelor's degree in English and Geography. She graduated from Bristol University with an MSc in International Politics, Economics and Social Policy.
Career
Bowater became a reporter for the Express & Echo newspaper in Exeter. She joined Westcountry Television in 1995 as a newsroom researcher, before becoming a presenter/producer for Westcountry News opt-out bulletins during GMTV, alongside reporting duties.[2]
Bowater later became a presenter/producer for late night & weekend bulletins and a stand-in anchor for the main evening programme, Westcountry Live, before becoming a full-time main anchor in 2003. She has also contributed to a number of non-news regional programmes for Westcountry including output for the station's Britain on the Move and People's Millions campaigns.[3]
Bowater left the station in February 2009 when ITV Westcountry merged with ITV West, signalling the end of Westcountry Live.
Personal life
After leaving ITV, Bowater became a full-time mother to her two young children.[1]
While pregnant in 2006 and 2008, she was cyber-stalked by Alexander Reeve, 24, who sent her 26 messages in one five-month period. Reeve, from Looe, Cornwall, pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to five counts of communicating false information with intent and causing fear of violence. He also admitted twice communicating false information that a bomb was in the ITV studios at Language Science Park.[1] Reeve was sentenced to four years and one month in jail.
Bowater subsequently became the Chief Executive for the Network for Surviving Stalking.[4] In April 2010 the NSS in collaboration with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Protection Against Stalking launched the world's first National Stalking Helpline.[5]
Bowater stepped down as CEO of NSS after successfully campaigning to have stalking included in The Istanbul Convention to combat Violence Against Women and Girls. The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence entered force on 1 August 2014. The new stalking laws to protect victims in the UK came into force on 25 November 2012. In 2018 she worked with MP Sarah Wollaston on the Stalking Protection Bill which passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 19 January of that year. https://www.channel4.com/news/sarah-woolaston-this-bill-takes-the-onus-of-the-victim
Alexis also campaigns to support women in business. She co-founded the two biggest women in business networking groups in the South West of the UK - the Plymouth Women in Business Networking Group and the Exeter Women in Business Networking group. Alexis is also regional partner for the women in business awards, the Venus Awards, described by Channel Four as 'the working women's Oscars'. In 2018 she took them into Cornwall for the first time, creating the Devon AND Cornwall Venus awards, the biggest awards of their kind in the region.
Alexis Bowater is still a working journalist and campaigner. She founded Bowater Communications, a PR and Communications company specialising in strategy, bespoke and discrete media training, press relations, videos and consultancy. Many of her clients can be seen on a regular basis on UK television screens, on radio, in papers and clearly and confidently getting their message out into the public domain.
Alexis also set up Community Interest Company Beach Schools South West, an award-winning organisation which takes children out of the classroom and onto the beach for curriculum-linked outdoor learning. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42833148
Stalking: Alexis is at present backing Dr Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes, who has put forward a private members' bill which calls for tougher powers to take action against stalkers before they reach the threshold for prosecution.
What are the stalking protection orders?
Victims of stalking by strangers are left unprotected under current laws.
Currently, when the offender is a victim's partner, or former partner, police can use domestic violence protection orders to try to tackle their behaviour.
The new Stalking Bill aims to address the gap in the law involving offences where strangers are involved.
The new 'Stalking Protection Orders' would allow magistrates to create tailor-made sanctions to prevent stalkers from harassing their victims, such as forcing them to declare their online aliases. They could stop them using encrypted software or ban them from using the internet all together in some cases.
Under the proposed bill a breach of an SPO would lead to a jail sentence of up to five years.
The bill will be read in the House of Commons in November.
References
- Savill, Richard (2009-03-16). "ITV news presenter targeted by 'cyber-stalker' who made bomb threats". London: Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-16.
- Westcountry News presenter profiles, archive.org
- BFI entry
- "About the Network for Surviving Stalking". Archived from the original on 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- Stalking helpline for UK victims launched, BBC News, 29 April 2010