Dealing with the unknown: Learning from stalking victims’ experiences

Abstract

Stalking was first criminalised in the United States in the early 1990s and most recently two stalking offences were introduced in the United Kingdom to deal specifically with stalking behaviour, strengthen the prosecution of stalkers and improve the protection of victims. However, despite growing policy and research attention in the last decade, the available knowledge and understanding regarding the nature and impact of stalking and the needs of its victims are rather limited. As such, this article aims to add to current knowledge by exploring the needs and suggestions of stalking victims based on the in-depth accounts of 26 self-defined victims/survivors of stalking who took part in a study examining the impact of stalking and the criminal justice system responses to victims. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that often stalking victims’ voices are not heard, their complaints are dismissed, their emotional turmoil is not recognised, their needs for support and safety are not properly addressed and therefore while they may be statistically present, in essence they remain ‘invisible’.