Stalking situations - over 10 million people in US have been stalked

American Demographics, March, 1998

Eight percent of women and 2 percent of men have been stalked at some point in their lives, according to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The Institute estimates that this percentage translates into more than 10 million people in the U.S. who have been victimized in this way.

Stalking is strongly linked to the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse committed against women by intimate partners, according to the NIJ. Sixty percent of stalking by partners began before the relationship ended. About 80 percent of women stalked by current or former partners had also been physically assaulted by them, and 31 percent had been sexually assaulted by the partners.

Eighty-seven percent of stalkers are men. Women tend to be victimized by lone male stalkers whom they know, while men are more likely to be stalked by strangers, and half of male victims' stalkers had an accomplice.

Of the people who have been victimized by stalkers, 75 percent say they had been spied on or followed, 45 percent had overt threats made against them, and 30 percent had their property vandalized. One in ten victims says their stalkers threatened to kill or actually killed the victim's pets.

Incidents of stalking usually end within one to two years, with most episodes lasting less than a year. But the emotional and social disruption caused by the crime can continue after that. One in three victims has sought psychological treatment, while one in five lost time from work and 7 percent never returned to work.

Half of all stalking victims report their case to the police, and half of the reporters are satisfied with the response. But the 15 percent of victims who say their stalking episode ended because of police involvement are outranked by the 20 percent of stalking victims who got rid of their tormentors by packing up and moving away.

NIJ researchers defined the situation as "a course of conduct directed at a specific person that involves repeated physical or visual proximity, nonconsensual communication, or verbal, written, or implied threats sufficient to cause fear in a reasonable person."

For more information, see "The Crime of Stalking: How Big is the Problem?" available through the NIJ fax on demand line; telephone (800) 851-3420, document number 4009.