Stalking is a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.[1]

• During a one-year period, 3.4 million people age 18 or older in the United States were stalked; of these, 2,531,770 were women and 892,340 were men.[2]
  
• Women were more likely to be victimized by male (67 percent) than female (24 percent) stalkers, while men were equally likely to be victimized by male (41 percent) or female (43 percent) stalkers.[3]
  
• The most common stalking behavior reported by victims was unwanted phone calls or messages (66 percent), followed by spreading rumors (36 percent), following or spying on the victim (34 percent), and showing up at places where the victim was without having a reason to be there (31 percent).[4]
  
• More than 1 in 4 victims reported that the stalker used some form of technology to stalk them, such as e-mail, instant messaging, or electronic monitoring.[5]
  
• Seventy-five percent of victims knew their stalker; 30 percent were current or former intimate partners, and 45 percent were other acquaintances such as friends, neighbors, co-workers, schoolmates, or relatives.[6]
  
• Some protective actions victims took included changing their day-to-day activities (22 percent), staying with family (18 percent), installing call blocking or caller ID (18 percent), changing their phone number (17 percent), and changing their e-mail address (7 percent).[7]
  
• Thirty-seven percent of male and 41 percent of female victimizations were reported to the police by the victim or someone else aware of the crime.[8] Sixteen percent of victims obtained a restraining, protection, or stay away order.[9]
  
• Two-thirds of stalkers pursue their victims at least once per week.[10]
  
• Seventy-eight percent of stalkers use more than one means of contacting the victim.[11]
  
• Weapons are used to harm or threaten stalking victims in 1 in 5 cases.[12]
  
• In one study with large sample of stalkers, one-seventh of stalkers were found to be psychotic at the time of stalking.[13]
  
• In same study, one-third of stalkers were found to be repeat stalkers.[14]
  
• Intimate partner stalkers use more insults, interfering, threats, violence, and weapons, than other types of stalkers.[15]
  
• A 2003 study found that stalking is one of the significant risk factors for femicide (homicide of women) in abusive relationships.[16]
  
• An analysis of 13 published studies of 1,155 stalking cases found that victims experienced violence connected to the stalking in 39 percent of cases.[17]
  
• The same analysis found that a history of substance abuse is one of the strongest predictors of increased rates of violence among stalking offenders.[18]
  
• The prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression is much higher among stalking victims than the general population.[19]
  
• In a study of domestic violence victims who had obtained a protective order, significantly more women who were stalked after receiving the order reported PTSD symptoms than women who were not stalked after obtaining a protective order.[20]
  
• A survey of university undergraduates revealed that 20 percent had been stalked or harassed by a former dating partner; 8 percent had initiated stalking or harassment; and 1 percent had been both a target and an initiator.[21]
  
• Persons ages 18-19 and 20-24 years experience the highest rate of stalking.[22]
  
• Forty-six percent of stalking victims fear not knowing what will happen next, and 29 percent of stalking victims fear the stalking will never stop.[23]
  
• One in 8 employed stalking victims loses time from work as a result of the victimization, and more than half lose 5 days of work or more.[24]
  
• One in 7 stalking victims moves as a result of the victimization.[25]