Understanding Warning Signs of Stalking

Understanding Warning Signs of Stalking

By: the Dakota Children’s Advocacy Center

January is Stalking Awareness Month. Stalking is a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that causes fear. Many stalking victims experience being followed, approached, or threatened – including through technology.

According to the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), 89% of adolescents who were stalked reported unwanted communication, and 41% were stalked both in person and through technology.

Stalking victims do not often use the word “stalking” when talking about their unwanted experiences. You’re more likely to hear things like “My ex is bothering me” or “My classmate is being weird.” Of the millions of men and women stalked every year in the United States, over half report being stalked before the age of 25. Over 15% report it first happened before the age of 18. Despite the reality that young people experience stalking, this crime is often misunderstood, minimized, or ignored.

If you’re worried your child may be experiencing stalking, have a conversation with them and ask the following questions.

Has the offender:

• Followed you, watched you, showed up unexpectedly, or communicated with you in ways that seem obsessive or make you concerned for your safety?
• Repeatedly initiated unwanted contact with you (for example, repeated phone calls, texts, messages, emails, gifts, etc., or through third parties)?
• Threatened you or done other things to intimidate you? What have they done that has frightened or alarmed you?
• Significantly and directly interfered with your life? Have they assaulted you while stalking, harassing, or threatening you? Have they forcibly kept you from leaving or held you against your will, caused you to have a serious accident, physically assaulted your friends or family members, or seriously attacked you in other ways?

If you answer yes to any of the above warning signs, it may be time to involve law enforcement. Stalking incident and behavior logs and informational handbooks are available at the opens in a new windowDocumentation Logs and Victim Handbooks page on the Stalking Awareness website.

Information for this article was adapted from the Stalking Awareness website.