3.4 Million People Report Being Stalked in the United States

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An estimated 3.4 million persons identified themselves as victims of stalking during a 12-month period in 2005 and 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. About half of these victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from the offender and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years.

Stalking is defined as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Individuals must have feared for their safety or that of a family member as a result of the course of conduct, or have experienced additional threatening behaviors. Individuals were classified as stalking victims if they responded that they experienced at least one of seven types of stalking behaviors on two or more separate occasions.

The most common types of stalking behavior reported by victims were receiving unwanted phone calls from the offender (66 percent), receiving unsolicited letters or email (31 percent), or having rumors spread about them (36 percent). Nearly a third of victims reported that offenders were equally likely to show up at places with no reason to be there or wait for the victim at a particular location.

Technology has become a quick and easy way for stalkers to monitor and harass their victims. More than one in four stalking victims reported that some form of cyberstalking was used, such as email (83 percent of all cyberstalking victims) or instant messaging (35 percent). Electronic monitoring of some kind was used to stalk one in 13 victims. Video or digital cameras were equally likely as listening devices or bugs to be used to track victims.

Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their offender in some capacity, and about one-tenth of all victims were stalked by a stranger. Stalking victims most often identified the stalker as a former intimate (22 percent) or a friend, roommate, or neighbor (16 percent).

Depending upon the severity of the stalking, victims suffered a range of emotions as they experienced stalking. The most common fears cited by victims were not knowing what would happen next (46 percent) and being afraid the behavior would never stop (29 percent). Nine percent of stalking victims reported that their worst fear was death.

About 130,000 victims reported that they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of the stalking. About one in eight of all employed stalking victims lost time from work because of fear for their safety or to pursue activities such as getting a restraining order or testifying in court. More than half of these victims lost five days or more from work.

This report is based on the largest data collection of stalking behavior to date. Data were collected by the Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, and was sponsored by the Office on Violence Against Women. The SVS data collection was conducted over a six-month period in 2006. All survey respondents age 18 or older were eligible for the supplement.

The report, Stalking Victimization in the United States (NCJ 224527), was written by BJS statisticians Katrina Baum, Shannan Catalano, Michael Rand, and Kristina Rose of the National Institute of Justice. Following publication, the report can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/svus.htm.

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Protect Yourself from Stalkers

/PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 10 percent of women and two percent of men in the United States have been stalked with an average risk of physical violence incidence of nearly 40% - Rosenfeld, B. "Violence Risk Factors in Stalking and Obsessional Harassment."

Stalkers with a prior intimate relationship are more likely to verbally intimidate and physically harm their victims than strangers, with the potential for violence four times higher than strangers. The strongest risk factors for violence are: 1) threats and intimidation; 2) the existence of prior intimate relationships; and 3) substance abuse. The emotional damage of stalking and threats increases the prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression among victims. The incidents of stalking increase during stressful economic environments and is reflected in increases in Cyber-stalking.

Employers can, and have been, held responsible for protecting employees against stalkers and domestic violence, which can be costly in terms of liability and loss of productivity. Companies should establish policies for educating employees and procedures anonymous reporting to protect privacy and safety of victims or potential victims. If someone believes they are being stalked, they should take action, including

-- Obtain a private Post Office (P.O. Box) for all mail, including
magazine subscriptions and the use the P.O. Box on your driver's
license. Do not file a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service,
notify friends, utilities and others directly.
-- Set-up Google or other search engines alerts for your name to monitor
online traffic and remove your personal information availability
online such as telephone number, address, etc.
-- Sign up for your state's address confidentiality program and obtain an
unpublished and unlisted phone number and avoid calling toll-free 800,
866, 888, 877 and 900 number services.
-- Don't list your name in an apartment building directory, use a
variation for visitors
-- Be very protective of your Social Security number and alert the three
credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and Trans Union. Put a fraud alert
on your credit reports to avoid fraudulent access.
-- Make a police report and keep a log of every stalking incident. Save
all communications for evidence. Do not edit or alter them in any way.
-- Consider getting professional counseling and/or seeking help from a
victims support group.
-- If you are a victim of Cyber-stalking, act promptly and firmly to
defuse the situation. Take potential threats seriously.
-- If you are receiving unwanted contact, make clear to that person that
you would like him or her not to contact you again.

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