Stalking

Stalking involves a pattern of overtly criminal and/or apparently innocent behavior that makes victims fear for themselves or others. It creates uncertainty, instills fear, and can completely disrupt lives. It sometimes involves severe-even lethal-violence.

Research and studies estimate:

• 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime,
• Most victims know their stalkers: nearly 60 percent of female victims and 30 percent of male victims are stalked by current or former intimate partners.
• 81 percent of women who are stalked by an intimate have been physically assaulted by that person.
• Both stalking and domestic violence are linked to lethal violence: one-third of women killed each year in the United States die at the hands of a current or former intimate partner.

Stalking is a crime under the laws of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government. Almost all states classify stalking as a felony upon either the first or second case, or when it involves aggravating factors such as the possession of a deadly weapon., a violation of a court order, or a victim under the age of 16.