Anyone can be the victim of stalking. Stalkers may be current or former partners or spouses, a stranger with an obsession for the victim, a person whom the victim rejected when asked for a date, a co-worker or employer.
Stalkers intimidate, harass, terrorize and control victims through various activites.
Stalking is intrusive and a violation of privacy. Activities often include following the victim to and from work, school or social activities, standing near the victim's home, making harassing phone calls, and sending unwanted gifts and letters. Wisconsin enacted a criminal penalty for stalking in 1993. Stalking can be any activity if the actor maintains visual or physical proximity, but the acts must elicit fear of bodily harm in the victim. The stalker must have or should have knowledge that the specific person will be placed in reasonable fear of bodily injury to himself or herself or a member of his or her family.