Stalking - Perceptions and prevalence

This article aims to clarify two issues relating to stalking: how potential victims perceive the crime and the prevalence of stalking and stalking-rel ated acts among the British female population. Three hundred forty-eight wo men were invited to classify which of a range of intrusive behaviors were e xemplars of stalking. They were then asked to indicate whether they had fir st-hand experience of any of these behaviors and, if so, to describe the wo rst episode. Of the sample, 24% reported at least one incident of stalking. The women held clear ideas on what they felt did and did not constitute st alking behaviors. Cluster analyses provided subtypes of stalking behaviors as perceived by respondents and subtypes of actual stalking as experienced by the sample. The findings suggest that a final legislative definition of stalking may not be necessary and that the high prevalence rate requires se rious academic and legal attention.