Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

Although stalking is a crime under the laws of all 50 states, the District of
Columbia and the federal government, police, prosecutors, judges, victims’
advocates and, indeed, the victims themselves often fail to perceive it as a
specific crime. Yet stalking behavior is surprisingly prevalent. The National
Center for Victims of Crime estimates that over one million women and nearly
375,000 men are stalked annually in the United States. 1 Stalking demands early
attention and intervention because it is highly correlated with, and often is a
precursor to, other forms of violent crimes. Estimates vary, but stalkers are
believed to commit violent acts against their targets in 25 to 35% of cases. 2
Intimate partners who stalk their victims are four times more likely than
intimate partners in the general population to physically assault their partners
and six times as likely to sexually assault their partners. 3 According to national
crime statistics, 76% of femicide victims had been stalked by the person who
killed them. 4
What is Stalking?
13
Taking Stalking Seriously
by Hilary Sunghee Seo
Stalking behavior may manifest itself in a variety of ways, but all stalking
has two common features. First, stalking involves repeated victimization of a
targeted person. Therefore, to understand stalking, a series of acts directed at the
victim must be examined together in the context of each other. Second, stalking
is a crime that is defined, at least in part, by the fear it instills in the victim.
Typical examples of stalking behavior include following a person, lying-in-wait,
sending unsolicited letters and gifts, vandalizing the victim’s property, or
threatening to harm the victim’s family members or friends. Stalking may begin
with acts which, taken in isolation, appear insignificant or coincidental, but as