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Stalking is now a criminal act throughout the US and Canada. Legally
in Canada, it is referred to as “criminal harassment.”
Generally, stalking is defined as the “willful, malicious,
and repeated following or harassing of another person,” that
threatens his or her safety (1). The term refers to repeated and
often escalating unwanted intrusions and communications, including
loitering nearby; following or surveying a person’s home, making
multiple telephone calls or other forms of unwanted direct and indirect
communications, spreading gossip, destroying personal property,
harassing acquaintances or family members, sending threatening or
sexually suggestive “gifts” or letters, and aggressive
and violent acts. The behaviour terrorizes, intimidates, and controls
the victim.
Roughly 90% of stalkers are men, and about 80% of victims are women
(2,3). Women are significantly more likely than are men to be stalked
by a current or former intimate partner (3). Most stalking victims
are women who are being harassed by men who wish to either reestablish
or initiate a relationship (3). The largest group of stalkers are
ex-husbands or partners who refuse to accept that the relationship
is over or who seek revenge for a perceived rejection or other infraction
(4).
In 1997, the Center for Policy Research, the US Department of Justice,
conducted the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) Survey and
collected data from 8000 women and 8000 men and found the incidence
and prevalence of stalking to be even higher than had been previously
thought, affecting 1.4 million Americans yearly (2). Of these, 8%
of women and 2% of men have been stalked at some point in their
lives, equating to 8 million female and 2 million male lifetime
victims in the US.
To date, there have been limited studies about the psychological
consequences of stalking. Pathe and Mullen surveyed 100 Australian
stalking victims and documented the adverse psychological impact
of being stalked (5). Of these, 83% reported heightened anxiety,
including panic attacks and hypervigilance. These women also reported
sleep disturbances (74%), intrusive recollections or flashbacks
(55%), appetite disturbance (48%), suicidal thoughts (24%), various
somatic symptoms, and lowered levels of functioning. Nearly 40%
met criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with another
18% having the clinical features but not meeting the criteria of
a stressor involving threatened or actual physical harm. Interestingly,
they found a trend toward greater likelihood of posttraumatic stress
symptoms in women who had a prior intimate relationship with their
stalker.
Westrup and Fremouw studied 36 women who were undergraduate stalking
victims, using the PTSD Scale, and the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90)
(6). Stalked subjects experienced significantly more PTSD symptoms
and had significantly greater severity of symptoms than did control
subjects. The stalked subjects’ positive-symptom totals and
distress indices from the SCL-90 were significantly greater than
those of the control subjects and showed elevated subscales of depression,
interpersonal sensitivity, and obsessive–compulsive symptoms.
Hall conducted a national telephone survey of 145 stalking victims
and found that, following the crime, victims reported becoming more
aggressive, paranoid, easily frightened, and cautious of others
(3). Of the respondents, 83% reported that their personalities changed
as a result of being stalked. In the NVAW study, about one-third
of the women and one-fifth of the men sought psychological counselling
as a result of the stalking victimization (2).
These studies support the information on victims from newspapers,
magazines, therapists, victims’ organizations, victim impact
reports, and the police. Stalking causes its victims to suffer severe
emotional consequences. Clinically, it appears that women who are
stalked may suffer from depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, helplessness,
humiliation, and PTSD (7). In addition, society’s failure to
understand the causes and consequences of stalking crimes results
in victims who are often judged responsible for encouraging the
stalking. As a result, they may face problems dealing with the legal
system and problems with obtaining treatment (8).
The Hall study also reported the dramatic toll this crime has on
victims’ lives. Many moved. Some changed their names, moved,
or went “underground, leaving family and friends behind in
order to escape the terror.” Several changed their appearance.
Further, Hall noted that most victims experienced acts that were
violent in nature. “That, along with the ominous threats and
constant surveillance and intrusion into the victim’s lives,
has long-term, damaging psychological effects. Living in fear takes
a toll on the quality of human life”(3).
Specifically, several studies reported the consequences to the
victim’s employment. Pathe and Mullen’s study of 100 victims
found that stalking had a deleterious impact on their occupational
functioning, with all but 6 reporting major lifestyle changes (5).
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To avoid places the stalker might frequent, 82% of the victims
had modified their usual activities as a result of being approached
or followed, and 53% reported a decrease or cessation of work or
school attendance. Hall noted that many had left jobs, which perhaps
related to stalkers (54%) appearing at the workplace. The NVAW study
reported that one-quarter of victims lost time from work, with 7%
of those never returning (2). Absence from work occurred for various
reasons, such as the emotional consequences of stalking, time needed
to deal with the criminal justice system or mental health professionals,
and a wish to avoid contact with the assailant. It is not uncommon
for reduced productivity to cost victims their jobs. Also, a worker
may be fired either because of the stalker’s constant appearance
at work or owing to harassment of the employer. Many victims become
isolated and deprived of support after employers and friends withdraw
out of fear. Likewise, victims may cease communication either to
protect employers and friends or out of a sense of shame (5,9).
Ms K is a 37-year-old divorced woman living with her son, age 2½
years. She works for a temporary agency, having been fired from
her previous job after 10 years as a flight attendant for a major
US airline. Prior to the stalking, Ms K had always been emotionally
healthy. She grew up in a loving, supportive, and nurturing environment.
There was no history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse and
no family history of psychiatric illness or substance abuse. Her
first marriage at age 19 years lasted 3½ years and ended
as she realized her husband was somewhat controlling and unfaithful.
She described her second husband in a positive light. They separated
because they had drifted apart emotionally and ideologically but
remained good friends. Ms K has a 2½ year-old son whom she
adopted at age 8 weeks. She had never had any attendance or performance
problems with this or with any other job.
In the fall of 1993, as her union of flight attendants prepared
for a strike action, Ms K began to volunteer at the union headquarters
and met Mr A. Ms K described this as a very stressful period during
which flight attendants were uncertain of their future, with the
implications of the strike. Also, she was separating from her husband.
Ms K became closer to Mr A, who appeared quite caring, sympathetic,
and understanding during that period of vulnerability. He held the
same beliefs, was attentive, compassionate, and intelligent. His
charming personality, charisma, manipulation, and intellect had
won over many union members and led to his high-profile position.
Following her separation from her husband, they began to date and
had a passionate “fairy-tale” romance.
In the summer of 1994, Mr A was fired after failing a random drug
test, testing positive for methamphetamine. Ms K believed his story
that “he was set up.” Their relationship continued over
the next 2 years, but gradually deteriorated as it became clearer
to her that he was lying, manipulative, taking advantage of her
financially, and unfaithful. She described him as emotionally abusive
to the extent that she felt insecure and “paranoid.” Meanwhile,
he continued to profess his obsessive “love” for her.
Finally, in 1996 she tried to end the relationship.
At that time, Mr A began various repeated and escalating, intrusive,
and intimidating acts of harassment. He made multiple telephone
calls, sometimes leaving up to 20 long verbally abusive and vulgar
messages on her answering machine. He even managed to find her on
layovers and call her room at night. He was so manipulative that
he managed to get through even when she had left specific instructions
with the hotel operator to hold all her calls.
He promised to destroy Ms K’s life, threatening to plant drugs
on her and then call the police. Mr A stole Ms K’s mail. He
made an additional cardholder on her credit card, on which he used
to cash-advance himself large sums of money. On multiple occasions,
he followed her, watched her, or approached her. On one occasion,
while she was driving with a male friend, he followed, yelling insults
at her and threatening her acquaintance. On another occasion, when
her ex-husband visited, Mr A repeatedly telephoned and then rang
her doorbell. When Ms K called the police, she later found that
he had talked (lied) his way out of the problem. Mr A called her
mother that night threatening, “Nobody will ever have her;
I will make sure of that.” On numerous occasions, he tried
humiliating Ms K by calling her mother and relaying to her that
Ms K was dealing drugs or was sleeping around. He also told her
mother, “I’m gonna take her down . . . She will lose everything
. . . She’ll never be with anybody else.”
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