WHAT IS STALKING?
While legal definitions of stalking vary from one jurisdiction to another, a good working definition of stalking is a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
Stalking Victimization
7.5 million people are stalked in one year in the United States.
- 15% of women and 6% of men have experienced stalking victimization at some point during their lifetime in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.
- The majority of stalking victims are stalked by someone they know: 61% of female victims and 44% of male victims of stalking are stalked by a current or former intimate partner, 25% of female victims and 32% of male victims are stalked by an acquaintance.
- About half of all victims of stalking indicated that they were stalked before the age of 25. About 14% of female victims and 16% of male victims experienced stalking between the ages of 11 and 17.
- Approaching the victim or showing up in places when the victim didn’t want them to be there; making unwanted telephone calls; leaving the victim unwanted messages (text or voice); and watching or following the victim from a distance, or spying on the victim with a listening device, camera, or global positioning system were the most commonly reported stalker tactics by both female and male victims of stalking. [Matthew J. Breiding et al., “Prevalence and Characteristics of Sexual Violence, Stalking, and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization – National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, United States, 2011”, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report, Vol. 63, No. 8 (2014)] • 46% of stalking victims experience at least one unwanted contact per week.
- 11% of stalking victims have been stalked for 5 years or more.
[Katrina Baum et al., “Stalking Victimization in the United States,” (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009).]
STALKING: MYTHS & FACTS
MYTH: You can’t be stalked by someone you’re dating. FACT: If your “friend” tracks your every move in a way that causes you fear, that is stalking.
FACT: If your “friend” tracks your every move in a way that causes you fear, that is stalking.
MYTH: Technology is too expensive and confusing for most stalkers to use. FACT: Stalkers can buy easy-to-use surveillance equipment for as little as $30.
FACT: Stalkers can buy easy-to-use surveillance equipment for as little as $30.
MYTH: If you confront the stalker, he or she will go away. FACT: Confronting or trying to reason with a stalker can be dangerous. Get help.
FACT: Confronting or trying to reason with a stalker can be dangerous. Get help.
Source: http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org/awareness
http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center
[Katrina Baum et al., “Stalking Victimization in the United States,” (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009).]