Know It. Name It. Stop It.: Stalking Awareness Month 2017

Last month, organizations across the country recognized National Stalking Awareness Month, shedding light on a crime that affected 7.5 million victims in one year. The National Center for Victims of Crime launched National Stalking Awareness month in January 2004 to increase public understanding of the crime of stalking.

This year’s theme—“Stalking: Know It. Name It. Stop It.”—challenged the nation to fight this dangerous crime by learning more about it. Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, the U.S. Territories and the District of Columbia, yet many victims and criminal justice professionals underestimate its seriousness and impact.

In one of five cases, stalkers use weapons to harm or threaten victims, and stalking is one of the significant risk factors for femicide (homicide of women) in abusive relationships. Victims suffer anxiety, social dysfunction, and severe depression at much higher rates than the general population, and many lose time from work or have to move as a result of their victimization.

Stalking is difficult to recognize, investigate, and prosecute. Unlike other crimes, stalking is not a single, easily identifiable crime but a series of acts, a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause that person fear. Stalking may take many forms, such as assaults, threats, vandalism, burglary, or animal abuse, as well as unwanted cards, calls, gifts, or visits.

One in four victims reports that the stalker uses technology, such as computers, global positioning system devices, or hidden cameras, to track the victim’s daily activities. Stalkers fit no standard psychological profile, and many stalkers follow their victims from one jurisdiction to another, making it difficult for authorities to investigate and prosecute their crimes. Communities that understand stalking, however, can support victims and combat the crime.

For additional resources and information, visit http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org and www.ovw.usdoj.gov.