Stalking in America: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey: (521072006-001)

Abstract

the past decade has produced media accounts of stalking victims, 1 passage of antistalking laws in all 50 States and the District of Columbia, 2 and development of a model antistalking code. 3 Despite this interest, research on stalking has been limited to studies of small, unrepresentative , or clinical samples of known stalkers; 4 law journal reviews of the constitutionality and effectiveness of specific antistalking statutes; 5 and case studies of individual stalkers. 6 Thus, empirical data have been lacking on such fundamental questions about stalking as: • How much stalking is there in the United States? • Who stalks whom? • How often do stalkers overtly threaten their victims? • How often is stalking reported to the police? • What are the psychological and social consequences of stalking? This Research in Brief presents data from the first-ever national study on stalking and addresses these and related questions. Since the data show stalking to be much more prevalent than previously thought and include other findings of broad public concern, they have significance for legislators , policymakers, intervention planners, and researchers as well as the public health and criminal justice communities. The data are from the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey, a nationally representative telephone survey of 8,000 U.S. women and 8,000 U.S. men (see " Survey Methodology and Demographic Description of the Sample, " page 15). The survey, which asked detailed questions about respondents' experiences with violence, including stalking, was sponsored jointly by the National Institute of Justice and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through a grant to the Center for Policy Research. Stalking generally refers to harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a person's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person's property. These actions may or may not be accompanied by a credible threat of serious harm, and they may or may not be precursors to an assault or murder. 7 Legal definitions of stalking vary widely from State to State. Though most States define stalking as the willful, malicious, and repeated following and harassing of another person, some States include in their definition such activities as lying-in-wait, surveillance, nonconsensual We are pleased to publish this first in a series of joint reports on violence against women. When the National Institute of Justice …