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Stalking: Stalking Victims
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Stalking is one of the most difficult issues facing criminal justice officials and victim service professionals. Studies now show that stalking is far more common than previously estimated and its consequences to victims more profound than imagined. The demographics of stalkers and their victims are as diverse as the entire population. The complexity of stalking behavior and the motivations behind such crimes make it a problem as difficult to comprehend as it is to solve. Professionals in the fields of criminology, psychology, and victimology are just beginning to develop response strategies based on their initial study of experience with stalkers and stalking behavior. Only a comprehensive and coordinated response of committed individuals and institutions--both inside and outside the criminal justice system--will likely succeed in stemming the fear, violence, and death that stalking inflicts on millions of victims each year.
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Stalking is a chronic behavior that can continue for many months or years. Incarceration or the existence of a restraining order may not diminish the stalker’s obsession. Many stalkers continue to write or phone their victims from jail or prison. It is for this reason that Penal Code Section 646.9 contains the language that, "incarceration is not a defense." Prosecutors can bring new charges of stalking against a defendant who is in custody but continues his obsessive behavior against a victim.
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Stalking behaviors observed in many domestic violence cases are motivated by the stalker's lack of self-esteem and feelings of powerlessness. Indeed, abuser/stalkers attempt to raise their own self-esteem by demeaning and demoralizing those around them. In most cases, they target their former spouses. The exercise of power and control over their victims gives stalkers a sense of power and self-esteem that they otherwise lack. In this way, the victim not only becomes the stalker's source of self-esteem but ... becomes the sole source of the stalker's identity. Thus, when victims attempt to remove themselves from such controlling situations, stalkers often feel that their power and self-worth have been taken from them.
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Stalking laws in most states pertain to a relatively new crime involving a clear pattern of conduct in which the offender follows, harasses, or threatens another person, putting that person in fear for his or her safety. An individual may be charged with stalking regardless of any pre-existing relationship with the victim. Stalking victims can range from celebrities to former spouses who have obtained a protective order against their ex.
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Stalking is a gender neutral crime, with both male and female perpetrators and victims. How-ever, most stalkers are men. Best statistics indicate that 75-80 percent (75-80%) of all stalking cases involve men stalking women. Most tend to fall into the young to middle-aged categories. Most have above-average intelligence. Stalkers come from every walk of life and every socio-economic background.
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Stalking is a legal term for repeated harassment and other types of invasion of a person’s privacy in a manner that causes fear and intimidation. Stalking is willful, malicious, and continued harassment and can include behavior such as persistent following, unwanted contact, inappropriate observation, and harassment or contact of family or friends. These behaviors can be conducted in person, through a third party, or over the Internet or through different technologies - commonly referred to as cyberstalking. Stalking, both off and on-line, can become a terrifying experience for victims, placing them at risk of psychological trauma and physical harm. A stalker can be a stranger or someone the victim knows including a partner, an ex-partner, or a family member.
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Stalking Victims