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Stalking

Stalking is a legal term for repeated harassment and other types of invasion of a person’s privacy in a manner that causes fear and intimidation. Stalking is willful, malicious, and continued harassment and can include behavior such as persistent following, unwanted contact, inappropriate observation, and harassment or contact of family or friends. These behaviors can be conducted in person, through a third party, or over the Internet or through different technologies - commonly referred to as cyberstalking. Stalking, both off and on-line, can become a terrifying experience for victims, placing them at risk of psychological trauma and physical harm. A stalker can be a stranger or someone the victim knows including a partner, an ex-partner, or a family member.

Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, Washington, DC, and under the federal government. While legal definitions of stalking vary from one jurisdiction to another, a good working definition of stalking, according to the Stalking Resource Center, is a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. The National Center for Victims of Crime's website can help you to find the exact wording of the law in your state.

Risk

General

Stalking is a widespread social issue. It involves a pattern of behavior that makes victims fear for their safety through repeat victimization– it is, by its very nature, a series of acts, rather than a single incident. Stalking creates uncertainty, instills fear, and can completely disrupt a person’s life- involving both emotional and physical repercussions. Stalking can, in addition, be part of a larger tactic if a person is being targeted for sexual assault or is involved in a domestic violence situation.

For Women with Disabilities and Deaf Women

There are additional factors that create a unique experience of stalking for women with disabilities and Deaf women. Stalkers may target a woman's disability because of perceived vulnerabilities or exploit her disability in committing crimes. Victims/survivors face overwhelming burdens in protecting themselves, distinctive obstacles to finding appropriate resources and reporting venues, and difficulty accessing or receiving services.

In This Section

We provide you with more detailed information to help you better understand stalking and how women with disabilities and Deaf women are affected by it, including:

• stats on stalking's prevalence
• dynamics of stalking, in general as well as related to women with disabilities
• the impact of stalking
• myths & facts about stalking

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