National Stalking Awareness Week: 19-25 April 2021

It is estimated that in their lifetime around one in five women and one in 10 men have been the victim of stalking (Office for National Statistics, 2020).

These statistics show the tip of an iceberg and demonstrate that stalking is not rare!

In the UK, stalking was first recognised in 2012 as a specific crime when it was added into the Protection from Harassment Act of 1997.

The new Stalking Protection Act introduced in 2020 makes additional "provision for orders to protect persons from risks associated with stalking; and for connected purposes".

It gives the police more immediate powers to protect victims and intervene early on where stalking is suspected through the provision of Stalking Protection Orders.

Clinically useful definitions for identifying stalking include:

• A pattern of unwanted and persistent behaviour that is motivated by a fixation or obsession that causes a victim to suffer alarm, distress or a fear of violence (The Suzy Lamplugh Trust, undated)
• A problem behaviour which is characterised by repeated attempts to impose unwanted communications/ and or contacts on another in a manner which could be expected to cause distress and or fear in any reasonable person (Mullen, Pathé & Purcell (2008), 'Stalkers and their victims', p.10)

Stalking often consists of a wide variety of behaviours (often seemingly innocuous if seen as single acts), using both offline and online methods.

The content of correspondence can be aggressive, including threats of violence or to humiliate (i.e., sharing images without consent), or can include intense displays of affection, fluctuating between these two extremes.

In the case of intense affection, the sense of threat is implicit due to the contact being unwanted.

Whilst stalking and harassment behaviours look similar, they are differentiated by the motivation of the person stalking, which is obsessive, fixated, and unlikely to stop without intervention. If the behaviours are Fixated, Obsessive, Unwanted, and Repeated, it is stalking!

Conviction rates for stalking have been increasing in the UK (POSTnote, 2018) but the number of stalking cases recorded by police is thought to represent less than 1% of actual cases (Suzy Lamplugh Trust, 2016).

For many, legal sanctions alone are ineffective (Benitez, McNeil, & Binder, 2010; POSTnote, 2018), and the estimated reoffending rate sits between 25 and 55% (McEwan, Daffern, MacKenzie & Ogloff, 2017); Suzy Lamplugh Trust, 2018).

Research (Purcell et al., 2004) suggests that persistence in stalking of two weeks or more is a 'cut-off' threshold between predicting harmless and more sinister behaviour.

Although not inevitable, stalking can have serious, life-threatening consequences for victims (Kropp, Hart, Lyon & Storey, 2011).

It is not uncommon for stalking to include some level of physical violence regardless of prior criminal histories (James & Farnham, 2003); McEwan, Daffern, MacKenzie & Ogloff, 2017).

But stalking will always cause psychological harm. Victims are often left traumatised because of persistent campaigns of stalking (Miller, 2012).

Research shows a high prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression symptoms displayed by victims (Mullen, Pathé, Purcell & Stuart, 1999; Bailey & Morris, 2018).

A recent study (Elklit, Vangsgaard, Olsen & Ali, 2019) also found that 56% of children of stalking victims met the criteria for PTSD.

There are wide reaching consequences for victims socially.

Victims of stalking report disruptions to their everyday lives by way of forced changes (e.g., routes to work, their phone number, disengaging from their social life, asking for people to accompany them at certain times for protection, moving home, losing their jobs) (Korkodeilou, 2017).

The financial implications of being stalked can be distressing, and victims commonly experience reduced productivity, absenteeism, or tension arising from their situation with co-workers, adding to their feelings of distress and isolation (Mullen et al., 2006); Stalking Risk Profile, 2011).

There is a clear role for psychologists!

At present, there is no theory that comprehensively explains stalking which could guide psychological interventions, and the 'dearth of available treatment options is particularly concerning given the high rates of stalking recidivism in forensic samples' (Purcell & McEwan, 2018, p.402).

There is also a lack of treatment intervention effectiveness studies that could help to advance knowledge.

Only rarely does stalking arise from psychopathology directly (e.g., delusional disorders). Instead it often results from the interaction of circumstances and a vulnerable personality (MacKenzie et al., 2009).

In the absence of mental illness, programmes of psychological intervention are recommended.

Legal sanctions alone are often ineffective in preventing stalking because, in the absence of treatment, the fundamental problems driving the stalker remain unresolved (MacKenzie & James, 2011).

The social contexts that give rise to stalking also need attention in risk management strategies (Emerson, Ferris, & Gardner, 1998, in Purcell & McEwan, 2018).

A mixture of lengthy psychological intervention and legal sanctioning is usually required to address stalking (Mullen, Pathé, & Purcell, 2000).

Psychologists have a role to play in promoting society-wide awareness and identification of stalking ; promoting research into the efficacy of current risk assessment tools (SRP, SAM, SASH); exploring and evaluating 'interventions'; improving the ability to respond appropriately and holistically to the needs of those affected by stalking, and those who are engaging in stalking; and in many more ways.

Anyone can become a victim

If you are affected by stalking please seek support and report to the police.

You can also visit the following websites for advice and helpful resources:

• The National Stalking Helpline: provides advice and information to anyone affected by stalking.
• The Suzy Lamplugh Trust: provides nationwide advice, information, and training. It provides advocacy for victims and support/resources for victims and professionals. It is a key part of the National Stalking Consortium, and campaigns on improving legislations and services.
• They provide an online tool, "Am I being stalked?", to help victims identify if they are a victim of stalking.
• Action Against Stalking: this service was founded by Ann Moulds who led the successful campaign for the introduction of stalking legislation in Scotland in 2010. The website offers advice and information.
• The Alice Ruggles Trust: exists to raise awareness of stalking to ensure that relevant legislation is effective and adhered to, and to bring about lasting improvements in the management of perpetrators and the protection of victims. The Trust is a member of the National Stalking Consortium.
• Paladin: assists high-risk victims through the support of Independent Stalking Advocate Caseworkers.