This column by Centre Safe Executive Director Jennifer Pencek originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
When we talk about acts of interpersonal violence, oftentimes people will focus on sexual assault or domestic violence, both of which are horrendous, traumatic crimes. But one crime that often gets lumped onto the end of lists of crimes and really does not get the emphasis it should is the crime of stalking.
January 2025 marks the 21st annual National Stalking Awareness Month, an annual call to action to recognize and respond to this criminal, traumatic and dangerous victimization.
Stalking impacts one in three women and one in six men in the United States, but too often goes unrecognized and unaddressed. It takes all of us — advocacy and support services, legal systems and victims/survivors and their friends and family — to better recognize and respond to stalking. This month, Centre Safe invites you to join our efforts to spread awareness about stalking through the theme “Know It. Name It. Stop It.”
Stalking is a dangerous and devastating victimization, often intersecting with physical and sexual violence. Stalking increases the risk of intimate partner homicide by three times, and one in five stalkers use weapons to threaten or harm victims. Survivors often suffer anxiety, social dysfunction and severe depression because of their victimization, and many lose time from work and/or relocate. Stalking can impact every aspect of a survivor’s life, yet many victims, families, service providers, criminal and civil justice professionals and the public underestimate its danger and urgency.
Most victims tell friends or family about their situation first, and how we respond influences whether they seek further help or not.
You may be wondering what stalking really is and tools stalkers use to perpetrate their crime. Stalking is a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear or emotional distress. Individual incidents in the pattern may or may not be criminal acts. Fear is highly personal, so is stalking; stalkers often engage in behaviors that seem benign to outsiders but are terrifying in context. For example, many people would welcome an unexpected flower delivery, but when a victim has quietly relocated to escape a stalker, that flower delivery can be a terrifying and threatening message that the offender has found them. Most stalkers target people that they know, and most stalkers are intimate partners or acquaintances who often have intimate knowledge about the victim’s vulnerabilities and fears.
Most stalkers use technology and in-person tactics to watch, contact, threaten, sabotage and/or otherwise frighten their victims. Common stalking tactics include unwanted calls/texts/emails/messages, showing up uninvited, spreading rumors and following/watching victims.
We all have a role to play in identifying stalking, intervening when necessary and supporting victims and survivors. Centre Safe is calling on our community to join efforts to raise awareness around stalking this month. Learn how to get involved with NSAM and the Day of Action of Saturday, Jan. 18, at stalkingawareness.org.
Centre Safe provides confidential, professional and free services for all victims and survivors of stalking, sexual assault and domestic and dating violence. Know you are not alone. Centre Safe’s 24/7 hotline is toll-free at 877-234-5050 and people can learn more at centresafe.org.
