How to Start and Facilitate a Support Group for Victims of Stalking

Chapter 2How to BeginChapter 2 offers important information about stalking and its impact on victims. Groupleaders and facilitators who have a breadth of knowledge about stalking and stalking victimsare best equipped to help group members who may have a broad range of stalking experiences.At a minimum, facilitators need to understand the basic facts about stalking and techniques tohelp victims increase their safety. This section suggests methods for identifying local communityresponses to stalking, conducting a needs assessment, and collaborating with communityagencies.Stalking: Understanding the IssueStalking is a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonableperson to feel fear. Stalkers intimidate and threaten victims through actions that make victimsfearful or cause them emotional distress. Stalkers terrorize victims where they live, work, andattend school. Stalkers’ behaviors can include repetitive phone calling and other phone harassment,leaving unwanted gifts for the victim, following or spying, unwanted e-mailing and otherInternet harassment, and other threatening or menacing actions.Stalking is a crime that is pervasive, dangerous, and potentially lethal. A 2009 Bureau ofJustice Statistics report demonstrated that 3.4 million people are stalked annually in the UnitedStates. About half of the victims in this study experienced at least one unwanted contact fromtheir stalker per week, and 11 percent of the victims reported having been stalked for five yearsor more. Women were nearly 3 times more likely to be stalked than men, and people ages 18-24 experienced the highest rate of stalking victimization. 5 Stalking is frequently undetectedbecause, in many cases, stalking behaviors (e.g., driving by the house, leaving unwanted gifts orletters, showing up unexpectedly) are not identified as criminal behavior.5 Katrina Baum et al., “Stalking Victimization in the United States,” (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ224527, January 2009).5