What is Stalking/Criminal Harassment?

Criminal Harassment - sometimes called "stalking"- is any form of harassment that causes the person being harassed to have a reasonable fear for his or her safety.


Stalking includes:

  • repeated phone calls, phone messages, or emails that annoy or threaten the individual
  • sending the individual unwanted things
  • following the individual, or his/her friends, family, or anyone else close to them
  • taking the individual’s mail
  • showing up uninvited at work or home
  • trying to get private information about the individual from other people
  • entering the individual’s home
  • vandalism
  • harming pets
  • threats or assaults
  • kidnapping, holding hostage
Stalking can escalate – at first it may be annoying and harassing, but it may become frightening and cause concern for personal safety.


Your chances of being stalked are close to 1 in 10.

U.S. Department of Justice, 1998.

 


Stalking/Criminal Harassment – Examples

The following are some examples of potential criminal harassment. You should seek assistance in a situation of this kind:


Unwanted gifts

The individual receives a weekly present - flowers and other gifts - from a colleague in another department. This colleague has asked him/her out on dates. The individual has indicated that he/she is not interested and do not want any more gifts; however, the colleague continues to send presents. The individual is feeling uncomfortable and is concerned about the gift bearer’s intentions.

 

Repeated contact (phone calls, messages, emails, letters)

The individual is being inundated with e-mails from an ex-partner that have left him/her feeling unsettled and confused. The messages are sometimes friendly, and ask if they can work things out; at other times the messages are hostile and insulting.  Some of the individual’s friends and family members have also started getting voice mail from the ex-partner attempting to contact the individual through them.


These are examples of behaviour you should report immediately:

Following, Watching

The individual is being repeatedly followed by a former student. The student is approaching other members of his/her department, asking questions, and trying to gain personal information about the individual, has joined his/her fitness club, and has been seen near his/her home.


Contacting family, friends, professors, colleagues, students

The individual’s ex-partner is outraged by the fact that he/she is not returning any phone calls. Now the ex-partner is repeatedly calling the individual’s family, telling them very personal things about the relationship, and pleading with the family for help.


Threats

The individual and two classmates are receiving threatening e-mails from his/her former lover. The individual no longer feel safe either on campus or at home. He/she is also concerned that the individual knows where their classes are, and will try to approach him/her.


‘Research demonstrates that anyone may become a victim of a stalker’.

Trauma, Violence & Abuse, April 2003, p. 154.



Other links relevant to stalking:

  • Are you experiencing Stalking?
  • What are the impacts of experiencing stalking/criminal harassment?
  • What assistance can the Community Safety Office provide?