Becoming the prey

Imagine that there was someone there--perhaps an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, or an intimate friend--who was watching your every move, hacking into your personal accounts, sending unwanted gifts to your residence, vandalizing your car or home and even approaching and terrorizing your friends. What if this person threatened to harm you? What would you do? Where would you turn to for help?
These are the questions that face 3.4 million people every year in the United States according to a study released by the Department of Justice on Jan. 13, a figure that shows a 2 million per year increase since a study conducted in 1998. This dramatic rise suggests that not only is the issue lacking attention, but that the situation is in dire need of immediate action.
"This is an international issue," Juliette Grimmett, Rape Prevention Education Coordinator at the University's Women's Center, said. "It doesn't affect just women or just men, and it not limited to heterosexual relationships."
According to the NSAM's Web site, the average duration of stalking is 1.8 years and 77 percent of women and 64 percent of men know their stalker, which increases the duration to a staggering 2.2 years. In many cases, stalkers escalate to acts of violence that can sometimes lead to murder. The National Center for Victims of Crime's stalking fact sheet shows 76 percent of intimate partner femicide--women murder victims--had been stalked by their intimate partner. Furthermore, nearly 80 percent of abused femicide victims--females who were murdered-- reported stalking during the same time of the reported abuse and 54 percent of femicide victims reported stalking to the police before they were killed by their stalkers.
Some feel, however, that stalking is often swept into the shadow of other issues like rape and abuse, and is minimized through slang language such as "facebook stalking".
"This is serious," Grimmett said. "It is a terrifying situation."
Grimmett defines stalking as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Like many rape and abuse cases, Grimmett believes that it is this fear and nonchalant attitude that keeps some from reporting a stalker, and that education is key in relationship violence issues.
National Stalking Awareness Month was established in 2004 to help spread awareness and provide educationa about stalking and its repercussions. The goal of the month is to promote outreach and inspiration to victims and advocates while providing information about how to stop stalking in your community. A new program on campus called The Movement, founded by Grimmett, has taken this goal to heart.
"The Movement is a coed group of peers who have gone through 60 hours of training and a course," Anna Godwin, a senior in biomedical and textile engineering and president of The Movement, said. "The goal of the group is to educate the student body about stalking, rape and relationship violence, what to do if it happens to them or if they see it happening to their friends and how to step up and speak out about events that could lead to violence."
Grimmett said students involved in The Movement go through extensive training, including ECD 296, a course focused on counselor education. Before The Movement's inception, there was no organization on campus dedicated to the issues surrounding relationship violence.
"I was a volunteer at the Women's Center and I've always had strong feelings about rape issues," Godwin said. "Other than being an advocate for the phone lines, I couldn't do much more."
Grimmett began the organization last fall with eight active members. Now with a group newly graduated from the course last semester, the program's membership has more than doubled to around 20 members.
"We are encouraging people to think about challenging each other and themselves to stop using stalking in such a nonchalant way," Grimmett said. "If we can not minimize it then we can make people take it more seriously."
In addition to The Movement, the University has many resources available to victims of stalking, rape and other types of abuse, and the Women's Center works confidentially with students who aren't sure where to turn for help.
"We try to provide a place where students feel safe and welcome," Grimmett said. "We keep the issue confidential and work with the victim on what steps to take next. I have even attended court with students who are appealing for restraining orders."
Other resources on campus include Campus Police, Student Conduct and the Counseling Center. The Women's Center, however, is the only center that will work with victims confidentially, and the only resource to offer help planning out the next steps to take.
Godwin stresses that the most important factor in stalking incidents or any kind of relationship abuse or violence is to let your voice be heard.
"Confide in a friend that you trust or go to a place like the Women's Center because there are people there like Juliette Grimmett who want to help you," Godwin said. "If you are going through this, there are people who want to help you be courageous enough to tell someone."