How Prevalent Is Cyberstalking?

                The prevalence of cyberstalking is uncertain.  Maxwell (2001) found that most of the stalking statistics come from the offline stalking population.  The National Violence Against Women Survey claimed that 8.2 million women in the US had been stalked offline.  It also revealed that out of 4,400 women students on a university campus, 13% were stalked in the last 7 months (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1997; Maxwell, 2001).  Only about 50% of all stalking cases are reported to the police, and reported statistics fail to represent the prevalence of stalking as a whole (Kamphuis & Emmelkamp, 2000; Maxwell, 2001). 

References

Maxwell, A. (2001). Cyberstalking. Department of Psychology: Auckland University

Kamphuis, J.H. & Emmelkamp, P.M.G. (2000). Stalking – a contemporary challenge for forensic and clinical psychiatry. British Journal of Psychiatry, 176, 206-209.

Tjaden, P. & Thoennes, N. (1997). Stalking in America: findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey. National Institute of Justice and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Washington DC. Available at http://www.ncjrs.org.