Olivia Maloy
We’ve all heard about stalking — but not all of us realize just how common this crime is. According to data shared by the Centers for Disease Control, one in six women and one in 17 men have been stalked in the United States. The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC) adds that anywhere from six to 7.5 million people are stalked every year.
In some cases, the stalking only lasts a short period of time. In others, the stalker persists for many years and takes total control over the victim’s life, following them everywhere they go. No matter how hard the victim tries to hide, the simplest “missteps”, which can be as simple as a phone call to their parents, can start the nightmare all over again.
What Kinds of Tactics Do Stalkers Use?
To understand how stalking impacts victims, it’s useful to first understand what kinds of people become stalkers, and who they victimize. Stalking can broadly be categorized into just two subtypes — intimate and non-intimate stalking. Most stalkers fall into the first category, and stalk people they know, with an ex-partner being the most common type of victim. Others stalk people they do not personally know, whether public figures, people from the neighborhood, or people they have come across on the internet.
Stalkers’ motivations also vary:
- Some stalkers believe that they are destined to have a romantic relationship with a victim they have never previously been romantically involved with.
- Some stalkers are obsessed with their victims because they identify with them and essentially wish to become them; more common in the case of stalkers who target public figures.
- Stalkers who target their ex-partners are most common. They may want to reestablish the relationship, or they want to (as one research paper worded it) be motivated by a “sadistic urge to torment the victim”. In other words, they’re in it to make the victim’s life a living hell.
We all have a broad idea as to what kinds of things stalkers do — essentially, let their victims know that they’re watching, they’re in charge, and the victim will never be free from them. Data from SPARC offers closer insights into what that can entail:
- Nearly 50 percent of stalking victims have unwanted contact — which can come in many different forms — with the perpetrator at least once a week.
- In fully a quarter of all stalking cases in the US, technology now plays a major part in the methods stalkers choose. The line between “stalking” and “cyber stalking” (which makes most of us think about unwanted emails or social media messages) quickly blurs once a stalker, for instance, installs a keylogger or activates the victim’s webcam remotely to find out what they are doing and where they are.
- Ten percent of victims are monitored via GPS systems and eight percent have their privacy invaded further through the use of “bugs” (listening devices) or cameras.
- In one fifth of stalking cases, perpetrators use weapons — either to threaten their victim or to inflict actual physical harm.
- Over one in 10 stalking victims will live their lives in the shadow of the terror the stalker imposes on their lives for longer than five years.
How Does Stalking Impact Victims’ Mental Health?
Reading that, it won’t surprise anyone how stalking victims feel on a daily basis. Stalking victims report that they:
- Are constantly afraid of what might happen next. They never know where the stalker will show up next, and what the stalker will do to make their life hell.
- Fear that they’ll never be free from the stalker.
It is only natural that numerous mental health problems result. Not all stalkers physically harm their victims, but all have a far-reaching impact on their victims’ quality of life. Both while being stalked and after, victims may develop:
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which can result from any trauma which involved physical harm or threat of physical harm, as well as from many kinds of emotional abuse.
- Depression, in which the victim feels like their life is not worth living as a result of the stalking. In some cases, suicidal feelings and even plans or attempts follow.
- Social anxiety and other kinds of anxiety — victims feel like they cannot trust anyone, or are fearful of public spaces, as the tormented may show up at any moment.
- Insomnia, wherein the victim cannot sleep due to fear of the stalker.
Many stalking victims lose working days due to practical concerns for their safety, or due to resulting mental health struggles. Many feel forced to move house to get away from the stalker, sometimes more than once. Trusting people becomes very hard for stalking victims, who have had their most private spaces invaded over and over again.
It is important to note that swift action on the part of law enforcement and community support can both help stalking victims be and feel safer. The sooner stalking is stopped in its tracks, and the offender criminalized, the faster the victim can work on their recovery. The sooner stalking is stopped, the higher the chance that the victim can get their life back on track without severe lasting consequences.
Content retrieved from: https://www.steadyhealth.com/articles/how-stalking-impacts-victims-as-fear-takes-over-every-aspect-of-their-lives.