Male Victims of Former-Intimate Stalking: A Selected Review

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been an increase of research on former-intimate stalking, with many studies examining female victims and male perpetrators of this crime. Most of this research has shown that males form a significant proportion of those who are stalked by a former-intimate partner, and in more recent years, some studies have found that former-intimate stalking, like “domestic violence,” is gender neutral or gender-inclusive. Experimental research on perceptions of stalking has revealed that male stalking victimization is considered less concerning and less dangerous than female victimization and that males should be able to control their own stalking experience. Clearly, female stalking victimization is a serious social problem and studies on this are common. However, this is not the case for male stalking victims. This selected review will examine the prevalence of stalking for males across different samples, male and female perceptions of the acts that may constitute stalking, perceptions of male and female stalking perpetrators, and perceptions of male victimization and their impact on men.