Stalking is a crime across the country. Despite the fact that millions are victimized each year, stalking remains a widely misunderstood and hidden crime and tends to go unreported. It is one of four crimes addressed in the Violence Against Women Act.

What is the harm element required for stalking?

In most States, to charge and convict a defendant of stalking, several elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt: a course of conduct or behavior, the presence of threats, and the criminal intent to cause fear in the victim. These elements are discussed below.

What is the relationship between stalking and domestic violence?

Stalking is also: A crime that can cause tremendous fear without the slightest physical injury; A behavior with a high correlation to physical and sexual violence1; A crime that can be lethal; and. A very effective tactic of control for domestic violence abusers.

What percentage of stalking victims are male?

Seventy-eight percent of the stalking victims identified by the survey were women, and 22 percent were men. Thus, four out of five stalking victims are women. By comparison, 94 percent of the stalkers identified by female victims and 60 percent of the stalkers identified by male victims were male.

What is the most dangerous type of stalking?

intimate partner
Stalking by an intimate partner is the most dangerous type of stalking. Intimate partner stalkers have considerable leverage over their victims because they know so much personal information about the victim. These stalkers also tend to be more insulting, interfering, and threatening than non-intimate partner stalkers.

What’s the difference between stalking and a stalker?

Stalking is defined as repeated and persistent unwanted communications and/or approaches that produce fear in the victim. Stalking intrudes on the victim’s privacy and evokes a fear of violence. Such fears are justified, as threats, property damage and assault occur all too frequently in association with stalking.

How often do stalkers commit assaults on their victims?

The majority of stalkers who threatened their victims subsequently acted upon their stated intentions. Kienlen and colleagues (1997) reported that 32% of stalkers in their study committed assaults, with assault higher among the nonpsychotic subjects with personality disorder or substance abuse.

Who are the most vulnerable victims of stalking?

Professional victims (such as health care providers, lawyers and teachers, who come into contact with the lonely, the inadequate and the aggrieved) are particularly vulnerable. When stalking first emerged as an issue, it was thought to be a problem peculiar to celebrities.

Can a celebrity fall victim to a stalker?

When stalking first emerged as an issue, it was thought to be a problem peculiar to celebrities. Now it is recognized that virtually anyone can fall victim to a stalker. Zona et al. (1993) were the first to systematically study assault in stalking.