Stalking

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What is stalking?

Stalking is a pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any other course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.

While legal definitions of stalking vary from one jurisdiction to another, a good working definition of stalking is a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.  Stalking is serious, often violent, and can escalate over time.

  • Follow you and show up wherever you are.

  • Send unwanted gifts, letters, cards, or e-mails.

  • Damage your home, car, or other property.

  • Monitor your phone calls or computer use.

  • Use technology, like hidden cameras or global positioning systems (GPS), to track where you go.

  • Drive by or hang out at your home, school, or work.

  • Threaten to hurt you, your family, friends, or pets.

  • Find out about you by using public records or online search services, hiring investigators, going through your garbage, or contacting friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers.

  • Posting information or spreading rumors about you on the Internet, in a public place, or by word of mouth.

  • Other actions that control, track, or frighten you.

  • Repeated, unwanted, intrusive, and frightening communications from the perpetrator by phone, mail, and/or email.

  • Repeatedly leaving or sending victim unwanted items, presents, or flowers.

  • Following or laying-in-wait for the victim at places such as home, school, work, or recreation place.

  • Making direct or indirect threats to harm the victim, the victim's children, relatives, friends, or pets.

  • Damaging or threatening to damage the victim's property.

  • Harassing victim through the internet.

  • Posting information or spreading rumors about the victim on the internet, in a public place, or by word of mouth.

  • Obtaining personal information about the victim by accessing public records, using internet search services, hiring private investigators, going through the victim's garbage, following the victim, contacting victim's friends, family work, or neighbors, etc.

If you need help

Visit One Place Family Justice Center at 530 S. Lawrence Street, Montgomery, Alabama or call 334.262.7378 or if you are in immediate danger Call 911.

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