Lesser Crimes & Offenses - Stalking

The National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that one out of every 12 women and one out of every 45 men has been stalked in his or her lifetime.³ Four-tenths of one percent of men and 1.0% of women had been stalked in the 12 months previous to the survey.

In the survey, 78% of stalking victims were identified as female. Eighty-seven percent of stalkers were identified as men (with a sharp split by gender: men comprised 94% of women's stalkers and 60% of men's stalkers). Just over half of victims were between 18 and 29 years of age. The study also confirmed another common belief about stalking: most victims know the perpetrators.

The graphic above examines the relationship between stalker and victim. Thirty-eight percent of women were stalked by a current or former spouse, 23% by a stranger, 19% by an acquaintance, 14% by a current or former date, and 10% by someone they currently or formerly lived with. For women, stalking seems to occur in some intimate context: the husband or boyfriend who will not accept that the relationship is over. But sometimes the stalking occurs even before the breakup. Forty-three percent of women reported that stalking occurred after the relationship ended. However, 21% claimed it started before the relationship ended; the remainder (36%) claimed stalking began before the relationship ended and continued on afterwards.

What of men? They have less intimate relationships with their stalkers. Thirty-six percent of men's stalkers are strangers to them (far higher than the category for women); 34% of them are acquaintances; 10% involved a current or former date. Only 13% of men reported being stalked by a current or former spouse. Curiously, 90% of the acquaintances and strangers are male. Why do men stalk other men? In some cases, these are erotic attachments. (Stalking prevalence was much higher among those men who had lived with another man compared to those who had not.) Some cases involved the stalker's hatred of homosexuals. Some stalker cases involved gang rivalries.

What sort of activities does the typical stalker engage in? Stalkers follow their victims, spy on them, stand outside their residence, make unwanted phone calls, send unwanted gifts or other items, and vandalize property. A small but significant percentage of cases (about 10%) involve the murder of or threat against the family pet. Such threats need to be treated seriously for the obvious reason that the stalker is turning violent.

All states have some sort of anti-stalker legislation. In 1996, the Federal Interstate Anti-Stalking Law extended federal protection to stalking victims. It expanded the definition of stalking to include mail and other forms of electronic communication (online harassment, known as cyberstalking, is a growing crime). It also requires courts to issue protection orders for victims and requires stiffer penalties for stalkers who have a history of this behavior. Some states are refining their definition of stalking: often a stalker must make an overt threat of violence for the behavior to be classified as "stalking."

The average case of stalking lasts 21 months.

Source: Tjaden, Patricia and Nancy Thoennes. U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Research in Brief, Stalking in America: Findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, April 1998.