NCJ Number
208769
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 16 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 151-167
Date Published
February 2001
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study examined how potential victims of stalking perceived the crime and the prevalence of stalking behaviors toward the British female population.
Abstract
Questionnaires were distributed among female members of the trade union UNISON in England and Wales during the first 6 months of 1999. UNISON members were selected because the women members represent a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. A total of 348 questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire solicited information on background and demographics, and it listed 42 intrusive behaviors and asked respondents to indicate which behaviors they considered to be stalking. In the final section of the questionnaire, the list of 42 behaviors was repeated, and the participants were asked to indicate which, if any, they had personally experienced; and if so, to describe the worst episode. The working definition of stalking provided on the questionnaire was "a series of actions directed at one individual by another which, taken as a whole, amount to unwanted persistent personal harassment." Both actual and potential victims of stalking were generally able to distinguish between the actions of a man who is trying too hard and obnoxiously to make a date with a woman and the actions of a man who is obsessive and possibly dangerous. Out of the total sample, 30.2 percent of the women said they had been a victim of obscene or threatening telephone calls from an unknown caller; 29.4 percent had at some time been followed in a public place; and 15 percent had observed a man loitering regularly in their neighborhood. Ex-partners of the women have refused to accept that a prior relationship was over in 22.2 percent of cases. This study concludes that based on the England and Wales Protection From Harassment Act 1997, one in three British women will theoretically be able to prosecute a stalker at least once during her lifetime. 18 references