We have all heard of celebrity stalkers and have seen movies portraying a woman who is about to be attacked by a stranger with a kitchen knife. Such attacks do occur, but research shows these types of stalkings are rare. The media feeds on the more lurid, violent cases to get a headline story, and ignores the more common types of stalking where a relationship goes sour and then the victim is repeatedly contacted by his or her former significant other, who at first tries to win the victim back, but eventually turns more and more aggressive as the victim rejects these advances. In fact, many of the 1 million U.S. women who are stalked each year are physically attacked, and their assailants are most likely to be current or former spouses and boyfriends, according to the first national study of the crime provided by the U.S. Department of Justice. The typical victim of stalking is a woman in her twenties.
Stalkers range in age from teenagers to retirees.
Researchers are becoming more aware of just how common stalking is in our communities. Studies indicate there is a pattern to stalking. The recipient of these calls and protestations finds them offensive and even frightening, and continues to reject the suitor. She wishes she could leave her home and not worry about seeing her stalker there waiting. He may vandalize her property, steal her mail, intimidate her with threats, or approach her at several times within the day for no apparent reason other than to remind her of his presence.