Stalking - How To Stop A Stalker, Further Readings
Criminal activity consisting of the repeated following and harassing of another person.
Stalking is a distinctive form of criminal activity composed of a series of actions that taken individually might constitute legal behavior. For example, sending flowers, writing love notes, and waiting for someone outside her place of work are actions that, on their own, are not criminal. When these actions are coupled with an intent to instill fear or injury, however, they may constitute a pattern of behavior that is illegal. Though anti-stalking laws are gender neutral, most stalkers are men and most victims are women.
Stalking first attracted widespread public concern when a young actress named Rebecca Shaeffer, who was living in California, was shot to death by an obsessed fan who had stalked her for two years. The case drew extensive media coverage and revealed how widespread a problem stalking was to both celebrity and noncelebrity victims. Until the enactment of anti-stalking laws, police had little power to arrest someone who behaved in a threatening but legal way. Even when the suspect had followed his victim, sent her hate mail, or behaved in a threatening manner, the police were without legal recourse. Law enforcement could not take action until the suspect acted on his threats and assaulted or injured the victim.
In general, stalking victims are women from all walks of life. Some are trying to end a relationship with a man, often one who has been abusive. The persons involved may be married or divorced or may have been sexual partners. In other cases the stalker and the victim may know one another casually or be associated in an informal or formal way. For example, they may have had one or two dates or talked briefly but were not sexual partners, or they may be coworkers or former coworkers. In a small number of situations, the stalker and the victim do not know one another. Cases involving celebrities and other public figures usually fall into this category.
Advocates of battered women have estimated that up to 80 percent of stalking cases occur in a domestic context, though there is little data on how many stalkers and victims are former intimates, how many murdered women were stalked beforehand, or how many stalking incidents overlap with DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. According to estimates provided by the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center, over one million women and approximately 350,000 men are victims of stalkers each year.
Research also indicates that teenagers are subjected to stalking and that they have difficulty extricating themselves from such situations. Stalkers may include a high school classmate or an older man with whom a teenager has developed a relationship. When a teenage stalker is involved, the victim may have difficulty convincing law enforcement and school officials that the behavior is more than adolescent "boys will be boys" conduct.
The motivations for stalking are many. They include the desire for contact and control, obsession, jealousy, and anger and stem from the real or imagined relationship between the victim and the stalker. The stalker may feel intense attraction or extreme hatred. Many stalkers stop their activity when confronted by police intervention, but some do not. The more troublesome stalker may exhibit a personality disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, which leads him to devote an inordinate amount of time to writing notes and letters to the intended target, tracking the victim's movements, or traveling in an attempt to achieve an encounter.
The potentially dangerous consequences and the terrifying helplessness victims experienced led to calls for legislation criminalizing stalking. California enacted the first anti-stalking law in 1990. Eventually, all 50 states and the District of Columbia passed legislation that addresses the problem of stalking. Initially these laws varied widely, containing provisions that made the laws virtually unenforceable due to ambiguities and the dual requirements to show specific criminal intent and a credible threat. Many states have
amended these stalking statutes to broaden definitions, refine wording, stiffen penalties, and emphasize the suspect's pattern of activity.
In most states, to charge and convict a defendant of stalking, several elements must be proved BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. These elements include a course of conduct or behavior, the presence of threats, and the criminal intent to cause fear in the victim.
A course of conduct is a series of acts that, viewed collectively, present a pattern of behavior. Some states stipulate the requisite number of acts, with several requiring the stalker to commit two or more acts. States designate as stalking a variety of acts, ranging from specifically defined actions, such as nonconsensual communication or lying in wait, to more general types of action, such as harassment.
Most states require that the stalker pose a threat or act in a way that causes a reasonable person to feel fearful. The threat does not have to be written or verbal to instill fear. For example, a stalker can convey a threat by sending the victim black roses, forming his hand into a gun and pointing it at her, or delivering a dead animal to her doorstep.
To be convicted of stalking in most states, the stalker must display a criminal intent to cause fear in the victim. Various statutes require the conduct of the stalker to be "willful," "purposeful," "intentional," or "knowing." Many states do not require proof that the defendant intended to cause fear as long as he intended to commit the act that resulted in fear. In these states, if the victim is reasonably frightened by the alleged perpetrator's conduct, the intent element of the crime has been met.
Defendants have challenged the constitutionality of anti-stalking statutes in many states. They alleged that the laws are so vague that they violate DUE PROCESS OF LAW or are so broad that they infringe upon constitutionally protected speech or activity. Generally the courts have rejected these arguments and have upheld the anti-stalking laws.
Once a stalker is arrested, the prosecutor will ask the court to impose strict pretrial release conditions requiring the defendant to stay away from the victim. Violation of these conditions can lead to the revocation of bail and enhanced penalties at sentencing.
Before a stalker is arrested, a victim may obtain a civil protection, or restraining, order that directs the defendant not to contact or come within the vicinity of the victim. If the defendant violates the protection order, a court may hold him in CONTEMPT, impose fines, or incarcerate him, depending on state law. In some states a stalking penalty is enhanced if the stalker violates a protective order.
Protective orders can serve as the first formal means of intervening in a stalking situation. The order puts the stalker on notice that his behavior is unwanted and that if his behavior continues, police can take more severe action. However, enforcement of a protection order has proved difficult, leaving the victim with not much more than a legal document to try to restrain a violent stalker.
Many states have both misdemeanor and felony classifications for stalking. Misdemeanors generally carry a jail sentence of up to one year. Felony sentences range from three to five years, with the ability to enhance the penalty if one or more elements are present. For example, if the defendant brandished a gun, violated a protective order, committed a previous stalking offense, or directed his conduct toward a child, the sentence may be increased. In some states repeat offenses can result in incarceration for as long as ten years.
At the federal level, a number of statutes have been enacted to protect victims of stalkers. These include the Full Faith and Protection provisions of the VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT (18 U.S.C.A. § 2265–2266 [2000]), which mandate nationwide enforcement of orders of protection, including harassment and stalking, and the Interstate Stalking Act (18 U.S.C.A. § 2261A [1996]), which makes it a criminal offense to travel across state lines to stalk another person. The act also makes it a crime to stalk a person across state lines using mail, E-MAIL, or the INTERNET. Such crimes are punishable from five years to life in prison.
Despite the nationwide awareness of stalking and the response of the criminal justice system, many women do not report these crimes to police. Failure to report stalking may be based on the private nature of the events and the belief that no purpose would be served by reporting the crime. Police departments and prosecutors have been criticized for continuing to minimize the seriousness of stalking and failing to provide adequate protection for victims. In addition, critics have claimed that courts are too lenient in sentencing stalkers.
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2 months ago
judy
25 years ago when I moved in to this house the lady next door spent her time yelling at me about my private life. After harassment all day long and night I yelled back. Since then I realise from what they were saying next door and the things I said I was going to do that they were listening into my telephone. I said I was going to put on extenions - they did, I said I was going to buy a bottle green tank to match my mailbox and they did, I would say I was going to buy certain clothes and she did, then the big test - I said I was going to buy a captain cook bottle brush and a jacaranda trees and put in out the front. And guess what she did. They could only here these things when I speak quietly to my mother on the phone. They watch for my bedroom light to go on so they can talk about me and sometimes they talk for hours. They hit cricket balls at my fibro walls and broke the whole wall. They put rubbish down our sewerage pipe. They put mud in my sons car exhaust. They yell out they are going to kill me if I buy or do something they don't want me to. They had my children bashed as they said I didn't punish them for something. They steal from me and she yelled out one day we take what we want. I caught one of them in my house when everyone was home and they get to know everyone I come in contact with - hence I keep to myself. They say she doesn't love us so we don't want anybody to love her. I have just been asked on a cruise and they yelled out the other day - wait till she finds out we are going on the same cruise. There is lots more but the worst is my family think I should just ignore them but its frightening and the lies they spread about me are low. The neighbour on the other side told me some of the things they were saying. They hide drugs in our yard for people to pick up. Once relative two doors up had bikies on their shed roof yelling at us. I have had telecom out to fix the line but they say they can't find anything but when I ring up out west to have my line checked they said there is two neighbours hooked up to my line. After 25 years I am becoming desperate, withdrawn, full of anxiety and I am old now so how can I protect my family - grandchildren from these people I can only think of one way as my life is nearly over anyway.
3 months ago
Help » goldensweetheart1 ((at)) hotmail dot com
I think that I have been being stalked for about the last 13 years. I was young when it started so I didnt know any better. Now that I look back, I see that someone has been watching me or checking in on my life. I dated this guy for about 1-2yrs, he was older and he had a child, he married that woman so I ended the relationship. He would call late at night and hang up constatly, show up unexpectedly, follow me, show up at my college. My family knows. Now he just pops up at my parents house saying that he came to visit my father. My father knows how I feel about him,and that I dont want him there. One of my boyfriends nearly shot him at my parents home in front in their faces. Yet my father never told him to stop coming there, to my mothers shock. I moved out, he still shows up from time to time. His parents live in the same town but he moved away, when he comes to visit them he comes to my parents house. Things happened between us that hurt me and my parents know. I cant stop him from showing up there. Its been this long and we havent seen each other. One day we may meet at my parents house. In the begining I asked him to stop and he mocked me, I even pleaded my case to his mother, Yet he continues. I have moved on with my life and have a significant other who has witnessed this for the last 12 years,along with a best friend, sibling as well as parents. This guy showed up recently, my family told me about it and now my husband thinks that there is a possibility that I have been secretly dating this person and weaving a web of deceit,or why else would he being doing this. I often wondered why he continues to do this but he told me years ago, "because I can". Apprently he knows that this irritates me and that no one is gonna stop him. So while I am at my parents home I deal with the anxiety of a possible confrontation while there with my family, because my husband was the guy that almost shot him...what am I supposed do?
3 months ago
mandy
Hi my name is Mandy.I was only 20 when my stalker began stalking me
he had been stalking me for a month before i realized what was going on
my neighbor an ex cop figured out what was going on before i did this man was 42 years it was the scariest time of my life this man was a stranger someone i had never met or had any physical contact with he started driving by my house every 15 minutes and we called the police he was arrested then after he got out of prison he started driving by my house again and i was so scared he never said anything just stared blankly at me..i think what was the most scary for me is he knew my dad was a state police officer he then started showing up at my work and i worked in a resturant so i called the cops again they said they couldnt do anything because it was a public place and he didnt try and hurt me which made me mad because i didnt want to be anywhere near this person
one night he tryed to follow me home then i called the police and told them about it and they finally caught him and i had to testify against him and a friend i met who was a witness also had to testify and he spent some time in jail i hope he learned his lessen i hope i neverhave to see him again though he never threatened me i had nightmares every night for a year this stalker took 4 years of my life and i'm 29 now i havent had much contact with this person luckily i still worry and am always looking over my shoulder worry that he is going to start stalking me again i've since moved from my home town where this began i hope i can help others out there to know that there not alonw
3 months ago
Leona » greeneyedlady103 ((at)) hotmail dot com
Well, I will have to say I have been through hell and back and now I am back in hell.
My ex-husband stalks me even though I have an exparte against him and it’s been a year now. They put him in jail last month for coming up to were I work and harassing me so he found out my address from the police report.
Someone has got to stop him before someone gets hurt.
So, last Sunday night 07-26-09 he keyed my picked up on the drivers side and then night before last on 07-30-09 he spray painted my silver truck with gold spray paint all down the passenger side and wrote whore on the tail gait all while it was parked next to the sherrifs car that lives next door to me. And I am suppose to feel safe. My pickup is always parked right in front of my apt. window. So he did this right there while I was sleeping. So, I make another police report and call the prosecuting attn. that I know by first name and tell her. She says I did all I can do!
Now I have been telling everyone he is going to do this and now I telling everyone next he will have someone run into me or worse run over me. I am scared and they won’t do anything, what will it take, me getting killed?
I have emailed Ophra and Ellen many time begging for help but, they don’t not even have time to answer my emails.
I am just another starving artist and now I have even more writing material but, enough is enough. I don’t want to have to move because my daughter and my grandkids are here and I have never been away from them but I guess it would be better to be away then DEAD!
I can’t go anywhere or do anything without him showing up and being around. I stayed with him 2 years longer than I wanted to because I knew what he would do.
I have 25 pages of crap he has put me through just since I left a year aog.
Someone has got to stop him before someone gets hurt.
Please help!!
LJ
3 months ago
stacy
I lived w/a guy for 6 years. I left 2 months ago and now he has cost me my job! He has been putting my head on a naked body and printing all kinds of bad things said about me on it. He sent these flyers and handed them out at my place of business. He also put them all over my sister's and brother's driveways, cars and in my parents condo. I went to the police and filed a report. They told me to file a TPO which is not worth much seeing as we never catch him in the act. He has been put in handcuffs outside my brother's place for tresspassing and then released. He's been carrying on for the past 2 months and nothing is stopping him!! I'm so sick of this. Now, I am going to work behind the scenes where the public won't see me. My sister sent a letter typed up w/out a return address(even though he knows where she lives) saying how she is sick of the harrassment and he needs to stop all this. She also stated that I left the state w/my son and started over. I hope he stops because this is getting old! I don't want to be controlled by anyone especially that sicko!!! I only pray that one day he'll stop. Shouldn't he be doing something more constructive with his time at 52 years old?? Enough is enough and nobody can do anything about it! So much for the legal system. Any advice would be appreciated.
5 months ago
Marylin
When i read the definitions of a stalker on wikipediea, i realise I was stalked for at least one year by a guy who i met on the internet. He would phone my house 5 times per day and tell me that i should be phoning him and i am not. And he would email me twice per day, and then tell me i was selfish for not emailing him back. then he started to phone me and tell me that i loved him, and that i just cant see it yet. and that i should just give in to it. I would talk to him because i felt sorry for him, and he would use emotional black mail to make me stay in contact with him. If is said no, i did not want to see him, he would start crying as if i had done something very wrong to him. I was so naive. he took advantage of my kind nature. he told me that i would be a bad mother, and i did not even have any children yet. then he told me i was a weird and unsocial person. he told me that i was naive, and that i was easily influenced. i just wanted him to leave me alone. he would talk constantly to brainwash me and try to tell me what i was thinking. and tell me there were all kinds of things wrong with me. like how i dressed, and what colour hair i had, and what my voice sounded like etc. i dont know why i contintued to talk to him. but it was because he was sending me presents all the time (which all of them i hated). but i just wanted to be polite. and i did not want any drama. and then he started insisting that i send him presents back. this makes me feel sick.
8 months ago
anonymous » zenferrera ((at)) rocketmail dot com
there is a group of people stalking me. they will go everywhere i go and tell people that i am a child molester. it is a very sick joke that i do not think is funny. a couple of months before these things were happening i hit a sergeant and because i am a private there was a lot of anger over this. the sergeant was caught with child pornagraphy on his laptop and i think i did everyone a favor except his buddies. his freinds have followed and harassed me to the point of possible suicide. they have broken into my car and stolen several things. they know how to make gps tracking devices and how to bug electrical equipment. i have contacted people with some authority and have been told nothing can be done. i have decided to leave the military because of this and don't see any other option.
8 months ago
Anoymous » lorider1 ((at)) optonline dot net
I have been stalked and continue to be for almost two years now. He has told people he wants to kill me, I have visual proof of this. He was arrested 6 months ago and is out on bail, and yet he continues to stalk and keep visual contact of me. The police tell me he is not breaking the law, and the court says he hasn't done enough to mark it as an important case and will probably only get PTI so he will have a clean record. And I have loogged everything in my log book with dates and times.Everyday pf my life I fear I will be killed by him. Yet there is nothing else I can do.
about 1 year ago
Anomymous Undergrad » Debideanne ((at)) yahoo dot com
I was trapped in an abusive relationship for two months, and was stalked for about a month after I ended things with him. I will be relocating soon because of it. I've known him for only about six months. He lied to me about everything including his age, criminal record,family, degree, job, and more. The police never helped when called because he seems like such a good guy. In reality he was abusive, and had many psychological problems. I was often afraid for my life when near him. I thank God that we only dated for a short time before I realized his crazed and obsessed lifetime movie-guy attributes. My family members' support was the only thing that made him stop, and he still calls sometimes. My advice is to never be silent or afraid, and never underestimate anyone because it can cost you your life.
about 1 year ago
Anomymous » Stratusfactiongirl ((at)) gmail dot com
I was stalked for two years by a boy in my school. He usually is staring at me and sometimes (a lot) asks for my number or my email address. Until I started having to avoid him..he still is stalking me a bit.