NCJ Number
148544
Date Published
1992
Length
98 pages
Annotation
A hearing held before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 1992 noted that the crime of stalking involves an estimated 200,000 people in the United States and that antistalking legislation is needed.
Abstract
The Judiciary Committee determined that stalkers approach victims in different ways and for different reasons and that a model antistalking law should give law enforcement the necessary latitude to pursue stalkers and should ensure the constitutional protection of individual rights. Hearing panel sessions focused on stalking victims and legal issues associated with stalking. One panel stated that about 5 percent of women in the general population will be victims of stalking at some time in their lives and that 51 percent of stalking victims are ordinary citizens, 13 percent are former employers of stalkers, 17 percent are highly recognizable celebrities, and 32 percent are lesser known entertainment figures. The same panel also indicated that 90 percent of stalkers suffer from at least one kind of mental disorder, 9.5 percent suffer from erotomania, and 43 percent have a love obsession with their victim. Statements and materials presented at the hearing focused on the insidious nature of stalking, the legal system's difficulties in protecting individuals from stalkers, research conducted by the National Institute of Justice to determine persons who are most at risk from stalkers, the lack of legal protection for stalking victims, characteristics of stalkers, and State stalking laws. An appendix contains additional prepared statements presented at the hearing and the text of the proposed antistalking law.