Cyber Stalking


As much as technology has changed society, abusers’ tactics are the same--abusing power to gain and maintain control in their relationships.  But everyday more advanced technologic tools make stalking easier and more effective. The increasingly affordable and available variety of phones, surveillance, and computer technologies provide a wide array of dangerous tools for abusers to use to harass, intimidate, and stalk their current and former intimate partners.  Some abusers install global positioning systems (GPS) to track their victim’s real-time location with extraordinary accuracy, while others use telephones to leave hundreds of messages in a single day.  Other stalkers use technologies like Caller ID during a relationship to monitor their partner’s calls, and to locate her after she has fled. Still others use online databases, electronic records, and web search engines to locate, track, and harass former partners.


In order to address cyberstalking, it is critical to understand stalking in general. In many cases, cyberstalking is simply another phase in an overall stalking pattern, or it is regular stalking behavior using new technological tools. Therefore, strategies and interventions that have been developed to respond to off-line stalking can often be adapted to on-line stalking situations. There are federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies which have begun to focus on stalking, and some have recently developed special task forces to deal with cyberstalking.  If you are being “cyber-stalked” contact your local law enforcement agency or you can check out some of the websites below for more information on how to protect yourself against cyber-stalking.