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It is estimated that 503,485 women are stalked by an
intimate partner each year in the United States.
More than 1 million women are stalked each year in the
U.S., and over a quarter of them report missing work as a result of
the stalking.
Stalking or Cyberstalking can include repeated phone
calls, sometimes with hang-ups; following, tracking (possibly even
with alobal positioning device); finding the person through public
records, online searching, or paid investigators; watching with
hidden cameras; suddenly showing up where the victim is, at home,
school, or work; sending emails; communicating in chat rooms or with
instant messaging; sending unwanted packages, cards, gifts, or
letters; monitoring the victim's phone calls or computer-use;
contacting the victim's friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors to
find out about the victim; going through the victim's garbage;
threatening to hurt the victim or their family, friends, or pets;
damaging the victim's home, car, or other property; using
telecommunication technologies such as the internet or email to
stalk another person, either alone or in addition to other methods;
stalking is deliberate, persistent, and personal.
Stalking is harassment of or threatening another
person, especially in a way that haunts the person physically or
emotionally in a repetitive and devious manner. Stalking of an
intimate partner can take place during the relationship,
with intense monitoring of the partner’s activities. Or stalking can
take place after a partner or spouse has left the relationship. The stalker may be trying
to get their partner back, or they may wish to harm their partner as
punishment for their departure. Regardless of the fine details, the
victim fears for their safety. Stalking can take place at
or near the victim’s home, near or in their workplace, on the way to
the store or another destination, or on the Internet
(cyberstalking). Stalking can be on the phone, in person, or online.
Stalkers may never show their face, or they may be everywhere, in
person. Stalking is always unpredictable and should be considered
dangerous.
Cyberstalking is the use of telecommunication
technologies such as the Internet or email to stalk another person.
Cyberstalking may be an additional form of stalking, or it may be
the only method the abuser employs. Cyberstalking is deliberate,
persistent, and personal. Spamming with unsolicited email is
different from cyberstalking - spam is basically "mass mailing" and
does not focus on the individual receiving the email as
cyberstalking does. The best response to cyberstalking is not
to respond at all to the contact. Many email providers now offer the
ability to "block" emails from certain email addresses, which is
another option for the victim of cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is
within a "grey area" of law enforcement. Most state and federal laws
require that the victim be directly threatened wiht an act of
violence in order to be able to enforce stalking laws; very few law
enforcement agencies can act if the threat is only implied.
Cyberstalking does at times escalate to "real" physical stalking and
to physical violence, so cyberstalking must be taken
seriously.
Stalking can end in violence whether or not the
stalker has threatened violence and whether or not the stalker has a
history of violence. Women stalkers are also just as likely to
become violent as are male stalkers. Those around the stalking
victim are also in danger of being hurt, such as a parent, spouse,
or bodyguard who makes the stalking victim unattainable or
inaccessible may be hurt or killed as the stalker pursues the
stalking
victim. | 
