Home | Survivor Help | About Violence | Take Action | Find Resources

Stalking

Victims should always trust their instincts and never minimize the stalker's behavior. If you feel unsafe, assume you are unsafe, and seek assistance without delay.

Take Simple Safety Precautions

• Vary your daily routine as much as you can.
• Change your travel routes.
• Get rides with colleagues or friends to and from work.
• Go with other parents to take your children to school and collect them.
• Try to leave home and work at different times each day.
• Do your shopping and other chores with friends or relatives.
• Plan leisure activities that involve other people.
• Protect your personal information – shred discarded mail, be wary of unsolicited inquiries, find out how much information there is about you on the internet.

Formulate a Safety Plan

• A safety plan is an important step in keeping safe. It involves thinking through short and long-term options in advance, knowing how to access help in emergencies, and having the information about services and resources before you need it.
• Safety plans should include provision for emergency shelter (in case you have to leave home without warning) as well as temporary and permanent relocation options.
• If you know the stalker, it is vital to identify safe places to stay and ways to prevent the stalker from discovering your new location. Stalkers with access to their victims' personal information can track and intimidate them more easily.
• A critical aspect of safety planning is minimizing contact with the stalker. You should tell the stalker only once (through registered mail, e-mail, or an attorney) to stop harassing you and never communicate again under any circumstances.

Collect Evidence

• Keep a written record of all stalking-related incidents and behavior, noting the time and place and names and addresses of any witnesses. Note how the incident made you feel. This may be important if your jurisdiction has a stalking law that requires instilling fear in a victim.
• Keep a written record of all communications (especially threats) made by the stalker or third parties by phone, e-mail, mail, or other means.
• Preserve evidence of all criminal behavior, including letters, packages, photos, video and voice mail, and other tapes. Start your own stalking log.
• Request copies of tapes from commercial surveillance systems as well as from personal video cameras used for security, which may contain evidence of the stalking.
• Document incidents of stalking and the stalker's behavior carefully. You need evidence of a pattern of harassment in connection with complaints to the police, criminal prosecutions, orders of protection, and civil lawsuits.

What kind of obstacles can prevent victims seeking help?

• Fears about how the stalker will respond
• Threats by the stalker
• Limited options for relocation to safer housing
• Language barriers
• Limited accessibility of victim assistance programs
• Belief that no one can or will help
• Fears about the consequences of seeking help (how others will respond)

This information was taken from National Center for Victims of Crime.

Stalking Information

Statistics | Cyberstalking | Myths & Facts | Effects | What to Do

About Violence

Effects of Victimization | Sexual Assault | Sexual Harassment
Intimate Partner Violence | Stalking | LGBTQ Survivors | Male Survivors
Differently-Abled Survivors