Stalking:
Stalking Definition:
A pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress.
Stalking Statistics:
- An estimated 13.5 million people are stalked in a one-year period in the United States.
- Nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men have experienced stalking victimization at some point in their lifetime.
- More than half of all victims of stalking indicated that they were stalked before the age of 25, and nearly 1 in 4 were stalked before the age of 18.
- Most stalking victims are stalked by someone they know:
- 40% by a current/former intimate partner,
- 42% by an acquaintance.
- 69% of female and 80% of male stalking victims were threatened with physical harm.
- People aged 18-24 experience the highest rate of stalking victimization (among adults).
- Almost half of stalking victims experience at least one unwanted contact per week.
- 11% of stalking victims have been stalked for 5 years or more.
- More than twice as many victims are stalked with technology than without.
Stalking Tactics:
- Stalkers use many tactics, including:
- Making unwanted phone calls.
- Approaching the victim or showing up in places where the victim does not want them to.
- Following and watching the victim.
- Sending unwanted texts, photos, emails, and messages through social media.
- Sending unwanted gifts.
- Using technology to monitor, track, and/or spy on the victim.
Impact on Victims:
- 56% of women stalked took some type of self-protective measure; often as drastic as relocating (11%).
- 26% of stalking victims lost time from work because of their victimization, and 7% never returned to work.
- 30% of female victims and 20% of male victims sought psychological counseling.
- The prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression is much higher among stalking victims than the general population, especially if the stalking involves being followed or having one’s property destroyed.
Types of Stalkers:
- Simple obsessional stalkers are the most common
- They have some prior relationship with the victim, usually an intimate one.
- These cases most often occur in the context of domestic violence.
- Love obsessional stalkers have had no existing relationship with the victim.
- Many of these stalkers target celebrities.
- Erotomania stalkers delusionally believe that they are loved by the victim.
This is the rarest category of stalkers