Are You Being Stalked? Tips For Protection
By: the National Center for Victims of Crime
What Is Stalking?
Stalking refers to harassing or threatening behavior that is engaged in repeatedly. Such harassment can be either physical stalking or cyberstalking.
• Physical stalking is following someone, appearing at a person’s home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing one’s property.
• Cyberstalking involves using the Internet or other electronic means to harass.
Either type of action may or may not be accompanied by a credible threat of serious harm. But both types can cause psychological damage, and each can potentially lead to an assault or even murder.
All states have anti-stalking laws, but the legal definitions vary. Some state laws require that the perpetrator, to qualify as a stalker, make a credible threat of violence against the victim. Others require only that the stalker’s conduct constitute an implied threat. The model anti-stalking code developed by the National Institute of Justice doesn’t require stalkers to make a credible threat, but it does require victims to feel a high level of fear.
Who Is Affected?
The landmark “Stalking in America” study by U.S. Department of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control concluded that eight percent of women and two percent of men have been stalked at some point in their lives. Researchers estimated that about one million women and 400,000 men are stalked each year in the United States. (“Stalking in America,” www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/169592.txt. See also “Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women: From the National Violence Against Women Survey,” www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/172837.pdf, both released in 1998.)
Most victims know their stalker. Women are significantly more likely to be stalked by an intimate partner — a current or former spouse, a co-habiting partner, or a date. Only 23 percent of stalkers identified by female victims were strangers. Currently or formerly battered women have the greatest risk of being stalked.
Young adults are the primary targets. Seventy-four percent of victims are 18-39 years old when the stalking started. About 87 percent of the stalkers were men. Overt threats were made against 45 percent of victims. In most cases, stalking episodes lasted one year or less.
About one-third of victims report they have sought psychological treatment, and one-fifth lost time from work. Thirteen percent of female victims and nine percent of male victims report that their stalkers were criminally prosecuted.
Stalking first received widespread public focus in 1980 with the murder of John Lennon, and again in 1981 with John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt on President Reagan. But it was not until the 1989 death of Rebecca Schaeffer, a rising young actress killed by an obsessed fan who’d stalked her for two years, that laws were enacted.
Such high-profile cases raised the public's awareness of this crime. But the majority of stalking victims are ordinary people, mostly women, who are being pursued and threatened by someone with whom they have had a prior relationship.
California was the first state to pass an anti-stalking law in 1990 in response to the stalking and murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer. Now, all states have anti-stalking laws. See www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/CIP/stalk99.htm
Cyberstalking
In recent years stalkers have seized on the anonymity of the Internet to commit their crimes. This has added a new dimension because many victims of cyberstalking don’t know the identity of the stalkers. That can make the fear more palpable and prosecution more unlikely.
The fact that cyberstalking doesn’t involve physical contact doesn’t mean it is any less dangerous than “real life” stalking. It’s not difficult for an experienced Internet user to find enough of the victim’s personal information, such as phone number or place of business, to establish his or her physical location.
The reality is that any type of stalking can lead to a physical attack if the situation is not properly dealt with as soon as possible.
California Law
In California, both criminal and civil laws address stalking. According to the criminal laws, a stalker is someone who willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows or harasses another (victim) and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place the victim or victim's immediate family in fear for their safety. The victim does not have to prove that the stalker had the intent to carry out the threat. (California Penal Code 646.9, www.leginfo.ca.gov)
The criminal penalty for stalking is imprisonment up to a year and/or a fine of up to $1,000. There are more severe penalties when the stalker pursues the same person in violation of a court restraining order, with a sentencing range of two to four years imprisonment. Persons convicted of felony stalking also face stricter penalties if they continue to stalk their victim(s). Courts may issue restraining orders to prohibit stalking. (California Family Code 6320)
A victim, family member or witness may request that the California Department of Corrections, county sheriff or the director of the local department of corrections notify them by phone or mail 15 days before a convicted stalker is released from jail or prison. The victim, family member or witness must keep these departments notified of their most current mailing address and telephone number. The information relating to persons who receive notice must be kept confidential and not released to the convicted stalker. (California Penal Code 646.92) The court may order a person convicted of felony stalking to register with local law enforcement officials within 14 days of moving to a city and/or county. (California Penal Code 646.9)
A victim of stalking may bring a civil lawsuit against the stalker and recover money damages. (See Civil Code 1708.7 for the elements and remedies of the tort of stalking.)
Victims may also request that the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suppress their automobile registration and driver's license records from being released to persons other than court and law enforcement officials, other governmental agencies or specified financial institutions, insurers and attorneys. (California Vehicle Code 1808.21, 1808.22)
When stalking occurs in the workplace, an employer can request a temporary restraining order or an injunction on behalf of the employee who is a victim of stalking. (California Code of Civil Procedure 527.8)
Federal law
Currently, there are few federal laws that deal directly with stalking.
• The Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act of 1996 punishes persons with a fine and/or imprisonment for crossing state lines "with the intent to injure or harass another person...or place that person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury..." (18 USC § 2261A, 2261, 2262).
• Two laws authorize grants for law enforcement agencies to develop programs addressing stalking and for states to improve the process for entering stalking-related data into local, state and national crime information databases such as the National Crime Information Center. (42 USC §§ 3796gg, 14031)
• Another law requires a training program for judges to ensure that when they issue ord