Stalking
In most cases the stalker isn’t a stranger. The stalker may be a current or former intimate partner, a friend, customer, coworker, or an acquaintance.
What is stalking?
Stalking is generally defined as any unwanted contact that communicates a threat or places the victim in fear.
Stalkers are often obsessed with their victims. A stalker may monitor a victim’s actions including her/his whereabouts, conversations with other people, and internet and email usage. The stalker’s motivation typically is to gain and maintain control over the victim. Some individuals may use stalking as a way to try to re-establish a former intimate relationship or to feel connected to a person with whom they do not and/or cannot have a relationship.
What counts as stalking?
Stalking behavior and conduct can range from very subtle behavior to extreme and outrageous acts. A stalker might engage in only one form of stalking behavior while another might engage in a wide variety of different and unpredictable stalking activities.
A stalker’s behavior might include:
Following
Waiting outside of a home or workplace
Making harassing or persistent phone calls
Sending letters or emails
Sending unwanted gifts or flowers
Contacting, threatening, or harassing friends and family
Hurting or killing pets
Vandalizing property
Manipulative behavior, for example, threatening suicide in order to force contact
Spreading lies about a victim, for example, filing false reports, posting or distributing personal or false information
Collecting information about the victim’s personal life and habits
Subscribing to services in the victim’s name
Interfering with utilities or services, for example, having phone service disconnected
Impersonating the victim or family member
Accessing personal information through computer files or email accounts
Stalking is a Crime
Legal definitions of stalking vary from state to state. In Massachusetts, there are 2 laws that address stalking behavior and patterns.
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