There are several factors that can increase an individual’s chance of becoming a victim. Goode (1995) claimed that up to 80% of offline stalking victims are from average socio-economic backgrounds. Hitchcock (2000) stated that 90% of offline stalking victims were female. Working to Halt Online Abuse (2000) reported that 87% of online harassment/cyberstalking victims were female. The problem with these statistics is that females have also been shown to be more likely than males to report being a victim of online harassment/cyberstalking, which indicates that the studies may not represent true victims (Maxwell, 2001). A University of Cincinnati study found that 25% of college women had been cyberstalked (Tjaden &Thoennes, 1997; Maxwell, 2001).
Studies have indicated that previous relationships increase the likelihood of being stalked offline. Zona, et al. (1993) claimed that 65% of offline victims had a previous relationship with the stalker. However, Working to Halt Online Abuse (2000) found that 53% of cyberstalking victims had no prior relationship with the offender. The majority of cyberstalking victims are inexperienced internet users. These victims allow information to be freely available to anyone without knowing the risk.
Bocij and McFarlane (2003) found that 67% of cyberstalking victims were Caucasian; 3.9% of cyberstalking victims were Asian; and 1.6% were African American. Follow-up studies indicated that most victims were Caucasian women between the ages of 18 and 30 (McFarlane & Bocij, 2003; Pittaro, 2007).
Below is another woman's story of being a victim of cyberstalking.
(This YouTube video was not created by me. This video was created by another person. Click here to watch the video on YouTube. Reference: ACPO Home Office. (2010). Tackling Stalking & Harassment in Homicide Prevention. Credit goes to survivingstalking for uploading this to YouTube.)
References
McFarlane, L., & Bocij, P. (2003). Cyber stalking: defining the invasion of cyberspace. Forensic Update, 1(72), 18-22.
Pittaro, M. (2007). Cyber stalking: an analysis of online harassment and intimidation. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 1(2), 180-197.
Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHO@). (2000). Online Harassment Statistics, Available at http://www.haltabuse.org/.
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.
Zona, M.A., Sharma, K.K. & Lone, J. (1993). A Comparative Study of Erotomanic and Obsessional Subjects in a Forensic Sample. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 38, 894-903.
Hitchcock, J.A. (2000). Cyberstalking. Link-Up, 17(4).
Goode, M. (1995). Stalking: Crime of the Nineties?. Criminal Law Journal, 19, 21-31.
Maxwell, A. (2001). Cyberstalking. Department of Psychology: Auckland University
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