NEW YORK, Jan. 13, 2009
1 Out Of 100 Americans Is Being Stalked
Survey Reveals 3.4 Million Have Identified Themselves As Victims, Many For 5 Or More Years
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According to the survey, about half of stalking victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week, and 11 percent had been stalked for five years or longer. (AP)
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How To Avoid A Stalker
Expert advice on handling a stalker, laws by state, and stars who have been targets.
Day was gunned down in the parking lot of the Plantation, Fla. police station.
"He hunted her down like a dog and he killed her," said Edward Day, Olidia Kerr Day's son. "She never had a chance."
While day's story is extreme, stalking is much more common than previous research had shown, reports CBS news correspondent Sandra Hughes.
An estimated 3.4 million Americans identified themselves as victims of stalking during a one-year span, according to federal crime experts who on Tuesday released the largest-ever survey of the aggravating and often terrifying phenomenon.
About half of the victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from a stalker, and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years, according to the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. It covered a 12-month period in 2005-06.
The study was described as a groundbreaking effort to analyze the scope and varying forms of stalking, which had not been featured in previous versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey.
The researchers defined stalking as a course of conduct, directed at a specific person on at least two separate occasions, that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. The most commonly reported types of stalking were unwanted phone calls (66 percent), unsolicited letters or e-mail (31 percent), or having rumors spread about the victim (36 percent).
More than one-third of the victims reported being followed or spied upon; some said they were tracked by electronic monitoring, listening devices or video cameras.
On The Early Show Wednesday, Michelle Archer, a director at Safe Horizon in New York and a stalking survivor, shared tips on preventing stalking, with co-anchor Julie Chen:
"The prevalence of cell phones and e-mails and GPS devices - this doesn't create more stalkers than used to exist, but it gives the stalker another tool in their toolkit" Cindy Dyer, director of the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, told Hughes.
But it's a toolkit that police and prosecutors can use, too, and some say that electronic record have been crucial to their successful prosecutions.
Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their stalker in some capacity - most commonly a former spouse or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.
Women were far more likely than men to be stalking victims, and people who were divorced or separated were more vulnerable than other marital categories. People aged 18-24 were more likely to be stalked than older people.
Victims reported suffering a range of emotions because of the stalking. Their most common fears included not knowing what would happen next (46 percent) and fearing the stalking would continue indefinitely (29 percent). Nine percent of the victims said their worst fear was death.
"All your freedom is taken away. All of a sudden going for a run or coming home by yourself - all those things began to be panic," one stalking victim, who was afraid to be identified, told Hughes
According to the report, about 130,000 victims said they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of problems arising from the stalking. About one in eight of all employed victims lost time from work, either for fear for their safety or to pursue activities such as seeking a restraining order or testifying in court.
Fast Fact
Mary Lou Leary, a former federal prosecutor who is executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said she was struck by the persistence of some of the stalking behavior depicted in the report.
According to the report, about 130,000 victims said they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of problems arising from the stalking.
"When you consider the impact that stalking has on a victim's life, five weeks is forever - five years is incredible," she said. "They often have to give up their current life, leave their jobs, their homes, establish a whole new identity."
Leary credited law enforcement authorities with taking stalking serious, but she said more needs to be done to strengthen anti-stalking laws and to expand the resources to combat it.
The federal government and all 50 states have enacted laws making stalking a crime, but the laws and definitions of stalking vary widely.
The survey's authors tracked a range of stalking behaviors, including waiting for the victim at a certain location, sending unwanted messages or leaving an unwanted present.
"While individually these acts may not be criminal, collectively and repetitively these behaviors may cause a victim to fear for his or her safety or the safety of a family member," the report said.
About 40 percent of the victims reported the stalking to the police, and about one-fifth filed charges.
The largest previous study of stalking, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2005, estimated that 7 million women and 2 million men in the U.S. had been stalked at some time during their life. It found that violence was committed against the stalking victims in at least 25 percent of the cases.
For more information:
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 80 Commentsheh heh heh
"I never knew a Dame that didn''t understand a slap in the mouth, or a slug from a 45..." Play it Again Sam
But, I like AlanW1077 "It''s Bush''s fault"
The term "stalking" loses its significance...
rowdy goes back in heat soon....
Posted by pirmin3 at 11:37 AM : Jan 13, 2009
Are you talking about DaVicar?:)
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Yea.....and how many of them are just paranoid/delusional schizophrenics who wish someone was stalking them.
I have been Stalked Two times and got in there face for Stalking me in public & thats the best way is to imbarace them and I called both of them crazy and told them to leave me the FRACK alone or I will call the police next time I catch you Stalking me or following me.
I told them to get a Frackin LIFE ! & NO I did not F them & thats what they probably wanted in the first place.
Posted by Dronemonk at 01:02 PM : Jan 13, 2009"
Yeah? Well today they are called "tormentors", and some may be even called "killers".
Yea, by the government!
Yea, by the government!
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Posted by ExAF74 at 01:30 PM : Jan 13, 2009
+ report abuse
Actually, it''s 100 out of 100. Shrub''s Illegal Domestic Spying and Eavesdropping Program is constantly monitoring and listening to every phone call and e-mail in the U.S..
Talk about creepy or scary.....
Talk about creepy or scary.....
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Posted by stinginrich at 01:35 PM
Just wait until Obama starts the rectal exam''s, that will get you singing.
Talk about creepy or scary.....
Posted by stinginrich at 01:35 PM : Jan 13, 2009
...and your post is at the top of their list!
My only advice is to not be ashamed. Let others around you know what is going on and how you feel. It''s important to have a good support group when this happens.
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I thought those guys were bill collectors!!!!! Hmmmmmm! Now I know I was in real danger. Annie get my gun!
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Yep, I was right! They arre bill collectors. Except for the last one there, the 9%ers, all are correct. My debtors don''t want me dead, at least i don''t think they do. I ain''t got no insurance so as long as i am alive there is some hope of being paid back.
Bought a .38,
registered the weapon,
took firearms safety classes,
practiced at the firing range,
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY -
I obtained a Permit To Carry A Concealed Weapon.
Once the Legal Notice was published in the paper, the son of a b*i*t*c*h vanished into thin air.
He''s probably like most stalkers -- a HUGE COWARD.
Talk about creepy or scary.....
Posted by stinginrich at 01:35 PM : Jan 13, 2009
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...and your post is at the top of their list!
Posted by b4ucmyI at 02:46 PM : Jan 13, 2009
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You forgot to say congratulations!
Posted by docpeter1953
In my town it''s the police!!! Fox guarding the hen house.
Posted by promaclaura at 04:31 PM : Jan 13, 2009
So wait.....let me get this straight.....You would rather him ruin YOUR life? You have no idea of what this person could do. I think the word for you is STUPID.
Posted by promaclaura at 04:31 PM : Jan 13, 2009
And what are these TRUSTWORTHY people going to do AFTER you have been RAPED or KILLED?
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