Centre for Action Against Stalking (IHCR)

The Centre for Action Against Stalking is a much needed centre of excellence to compile research which will finally raise a global flag on the heinous crime that is stalking. Having known and worked with Ann Moulds, Founder and CEO of Action Against Stalking, for many years, I have watched this charity grow to where it is now. Like many others, those of us with strong passionate voices and real commitment for change, know it doesn’t take an army. It is going to be interesting to see the future unfold and with the support of this new Centre, for the safety of so many currently being stalked and those who will be victims. Those of us who have been stalked totally know the value of this research Centre. Thank you to all involved.

The Centre for Action Against Stalking will be a template for all other nations to emulate. 

Thank you to Action Against Stalking, UWS and all conference participants for allowing me the opportunity to present 'iPredator, Cyberstalking, Internet Addiction and Online Victimization' at your 2021 conference. 

Stalking is a relatively new concept in criminal law. Due to the nebulous nature of this unique type of criminality there is currently no overall consensus on how best to define it legally, clinically or academically. In part this is due to the ongoing, ambiguous, wide-ranging behaviours that constitute the crime, many of which are non-criminal acts. It is a crime that spans the gamete of a wide range of other serious forms of anti- social behaviour and abuse. However, despite growing awareness and recognition of this crime over the past decade, up to date empirical research, knowledge and understanding regarding the nature and impact of stalking and the needs of its victims is still rather limited.

Stalkers can be classified into five typologies: rejected, intimacy seeker, incompetent suitor, revengeful and predatory.  This classification of stalkers, developed by Paul Mullen, Michele Pathé and Rosemary Purcell 1999[1] places the greatest emphasis on the context in which the stalking arose, the stalker’s initial motivation for contacting the victim, what sustains the motivation in terms of the needs and desires the stalking itself satisfies. It also incorporates the nature of the prior relationship between victim and stalker, the stalker's psychopathology and the stalker's and victim's psychological and social vulnerabilities.

[1] Stalkers and Their Victims | The BMJ www.bmj.com/content/321/7271/1296.2

Whilst it is commonly perceived that most perpetrators of stalking are male and victims female, recent Criminal Justice Survey findings highlight little difference between the number of men being stalked compared to women. Currently there is a lack of research highlighting the prevalence and impact of male victims of stalking but for ease of understanding stalking is a complex gender-neutral heterogeneous crime, where men stalk women, women stalk men, men stalk other men and women stalk other women. 

Whilst the literature on Perpetrator recidivism is severely lacking, anecdotal evidence from victims highlights that legal sanctions alone may be effective in bringing some stalkers permanently to abandon their quest. Further research is needed to explore the factors that are related to persistence and recurrence in stalking.

Young people and children are particularly vulnerable to being groomed for sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking.  The grooming can take place online, in person or both – by a stranger or someone they know.  'Stranger Danger' data from UK police forces in 2011-12 found that 42% of all abduction attempts were made by strangers - albeit  that three quarters of the attempts were unsuccessful. In 2019 PACT (Parents and Abducted Children Together): London, an international non-profit organisation which specialises in fighting international child abduction, stated that non-parental child abductions increased at more than twice the rate of parental abductions between 2017/18 and 2018/19.

Stalking is a pattern of unwanted and persistent behaviour and, when placed within an intimate relationship, it is often underpinned by other menacing psychological methods to control and rule a partner. Coercion and control is now a legal concept within criminal law. Coercion may be defined as 'the use of force to persuade someone to do something that they are unwilling to do', whereas control means to dominate, regulate and have full control over another person’s behaviour.

It is not uncommon for stalking to exist during the relationship, and then to continue once the relationship ends. In other instances the stalking only starts after a relationship ends, where there may be no history of domestic abuse.

The structure of the working environment provides the perfect substrate for stalkers to locate, track and pursue their victim with relative ease. The problem becomes even more complicated if the stalker is also an employee. He or she has greater access to the victim and coincidental contacts may be easily arranged by the stalker and the red flags of stalking dangers can be easily overlooked and distinguished from behaviours which are a normal part of working activity.

Stalking that starts within the personal domain can easily enter the workplace, making it a problem for many, while stalking that starts within the workplace can follow the victim outside.

Managers have a duty of care and a responsibility to ensure a safe working environment for all staff and not just the victim. Being stalked within the workplace means that the workplace is not a safe environment.

With increasing new light on the crime of stalking and its pervasive and chronic nature, organisations need to take into account the implications of existing policies and practice to ensure effective management of stalking cases, the legal implications and duty of care to the victim and other members of staff.

Stalking and its links to exploitation underpins some of the worst form of criminality such as:

human trafficking; exploitation of young people, children and adults into the sex industry; forced marriage; and various forms of financial and identity fraud.  The internet provides these predatory gang stalkers with the perfect medium to cast their nets wider, opening up new markets. 

Once suitable victims have been identified, groomed and enslaved into the trafficker’s world , their capturers often use technology to track and monitor their victims with threats of violence for non-compliance.

Other forms of exploitation can happen through the sharing of sexual images being used to as ransom to extrapolate money or sexual favours.

Stalking has become rampant in both the real and the virtual world and, as we know, the use of cyber technology to stalk can be simply an electronic precursor to real-world behaviours. The internet has provided yet another useful tool in the stalker’s armoury to track, locate and communicate with their victims with relative ease. Research highlights the majority of stalkers engage in both online and offline behaviours and what can start offline can soon move online and what can start online can soon move online.  Through the development of technological advancement, stalking is more and more crossing national and international boundaries. Like any business trading in supply to demand, sex trafficking,  human trafficking, child exploitation, child abuse and child abduction have become some of the fastest growing criminal enterprises in the world with technology being the perfect conduit.

Whether through research or anecdotal evidence, the effect of stalking on a victim carries a high price emotionally, psychologically, socially and financially, depending on the nature of the stalking and how long it has lasted. Research states one third of stalking cases[2] will escalate to physical violence which in itself is a significant forensic sample, but it is overshadowed by an even high clinical significant sample highlighting over 50% of stalking victims will go on to develop symptoms of PTSD. Victims report symptoms of anxiety, low mood, depression, chronic sleep disturbance, excessive tiredness, headaches, suicidal ideation to name but a few[3].  Research by Mullen et al 1997 [4] reported victims having to make major changes in their social and working lives; for example, changing or leaving employment and, in some cases relocating to a different geographical area.

[2] Reid-Meloy, J. (ed.) (1998), The Psychology of Stalking: Clinical and Forensic Perspectives. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

[3] Mullen, P., Pathé, M. & Purcell, R. (2000) Stalkers and their Victims. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[4] Pathé, M. & Mullen, P.E. The impact of stalkers on their victims. The British Journal of Psychiatry,170: 12-17.

Currently there is little in the way of up to date data on the victim's experience of reporting a stalking incidence to the Police.

This is an area that requires further research.

A collection of research outputs from the University of Salford in 2016[5]highlighted some of the most common coping strategies employed by victims in an attempt to keep themselves safe and thwart the stalkers' unwanted intrusions. 

Some of these coping strategies may to the outside eye appear disproportionate to the non-criminal acts that taken in isolation appear benign and harmless, yet when placed within a stalking context often hold a more sinister meaning. Victims, in response, often make significant changes to their daily routine and lifestyle to include: avoiding places where their stalkers might be; changing their driving routes to their home; installing CCTV around their home; changing cars or mobile phone numbers; withdrawing from social activities and leisure pursuits; resigning from their job; or, in the case of young people, quitting school, college or university. Stalkers can also target friends and families placing a greater burden on the victim's responsibility for keep them safe and in doing so the victim may feel they have no alternative but to maintain their distance, leading to social isolation. It is also not uncommon for the victim's friends and family to feel frustrated in trying to provide long-term support to the victim.

Other studies have highlighted that victims may feel forced to terminate their employment, or in some cases, may lose their jobs as a result of poor performance or due to the stalker’s persistent and often malicious phone calls to their workplace. In some cases victims have been known to relocate to find a place of safety.

[5] 'No place to hide' : stalking victimisation and its psycho ...

Given that stalking is a relatively new legal concept within criminal law, police responses to stalking and their victims are varied across the UK. It is here the victim's voice must take centre stage. This can only be achieved through through research and victim surveys in order to gain the feedback from those who have experienced the crime and experienced the criminal justice system. Without this research, how can we truly judge whether the time, money and energy which has surely been invested in recent times to make changes to statute, systems, policies and procedures has actually made a difference, and whether that difference is consistent across the system.

One of the biggest issues is the lack of statistical data to establish a baseline reference for a true measurement of the problem. Whatever the precise stalking rate, it is clear that it is still a crime that is under reported and poorly recognised.

It was only in 2018/19 that the Scottish Criminal Justice Surveys placed stalking within its own specific category. Up until then, stalking was viewed as an adjunct to crimes of a sexual nature.

An extract from the 2019-20 Scottish Criminal Justice Survey highlighted almost 1 in 8 adults (11%) experienced at least one type of stalking & harassment in the 12 months prior to the survey, with stranger stalking being the most prevalent of the typologies[6]

[6] https://www.gov.scot/news/scottish-crime-and-justice-survey-201920/

The Scottish Criminal Justice Survey 2019-20 found no difference in the proportion of men and women experiencing stalking and harassment in the 12 months prior to the survey (11.4% and 12.1%, respectively). Looking at the gender split by type of stalking and harassment, more women than men reported being followed (1.1% compared to 0.3%, respectively) or receiving unwanted messages by text, email, messenger or posts on social media sites (9.0% compared to 7.4%, respectively). Conversely, more men than women reported receiving unwanted letters or cards (3.2% compared to 1.7%, respectively) or unwanted phone calls (8.0% compared to 5.7%, respectively.

Detective Mike Proctor, Det. Retired, President of Duck Works Criminal Consulting, LLC’s Bio.

• Graduated with a B.A. in Geography, a minor in Safety Education, teachable minors in Physical Education & one in Business, from California State University at Long Beach in 1970. Also has a Lifetime Standard Teaching as well as Community College credential, along with a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Basic Instructor Proficiency Certificate.

• Worked for thirty-three years for the Westminster Police Department, located in Orange County California. During his tenure at Westminster P.D., he worked uniformed patrol, then wrote the pilot program on School Resource Officers for the Garden Grove Unified School District and then became an S.R.O. and chief’s administrative aid. He developed and later participated in the C.S.P. (Crime Specifics Unit—an undercover investigation team who follows heavy felons until they commit crimes). He then moved promoted to detectives, and for the majority of his years on the department was a robbery/homicide and predator crimes detective.  While at the Police Department, he received numerous awards and commendations—some of which were officer of the year, detective of the year three times, as well as The Defender of Justice Award given to him by members of the California State Legislature for his continued work on stalking.

• In 1991 he began working stalkers. He is considered one of the pioneers in the investigation of stalking, and stalking threat assessment. He was one of the commissioners assigned to P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards and Training) to develop the first known training video and workbook on the topic of stalking.)  He has developed a stalking protocol that is utilized by law enforcement entities both in the United States and Abroad. He was a consultant on a DOJ grant sponsored by USC (University of Southern California) emphasizing a better approach to handling stalking on college campuses. (The USC College Consortium Project)

• He is a consultant for OVC (Office for Victims of Crime) out of Washington DC., and in Jan. of 2013 was “Spotlighted” by OVC for his work on stalking and threat assessment. (In 2016, he completed his evaluation and editing, OVC’s VAT—Victim Advocate Training on the Stalking Training Module.) He is a member of NCVC (National Center for The Victims of Crime), who he also consults for. In 2011 he was empaneled on the board of The National Stalking Training Academy developed by the Home Office of the United Kingdom. (Unfortunately, this entity recently lost funding.)

• He is regularly quoted in the print media like the Economist and others—most recently two Florida newspapers on different stalking cases, as well as consults for television and radio both in the United States and abroad. This would include Atlas Media, A & E, BBC America, E-Hollywood, etc. He has appeared on America’s Most Wanted, Case Closed, CNN, Fox news, a recent consult for Fox was on the Gwyneth Paltrow stalking trial 02/2016, Japanese and Korean television just to name a few. The most recent interview is for a special regarding celebrity stalkers produced by Buck Productions out of Canada, which is currently airing on Reelz TV. He also just completed an interview for an Irish television network (Peninsula Media), yet to be aired.

• Proctor has written several articles for professional law enforcement journals along with two books designed to assist the victims of stalking, victim advocates, educators, and law enforcement. How to Stop a Stalker, Prometheus Books in 2003, and his latest Antidote For a Stalker, initially released in December of 2012, re-released in May of 2013 currently on Amazon. His blog is Stalking Detective’s First Aide For Victims. He is working on initiating a YouTube Channel, tentatively to be named The Stalking Detective which discusses the stalking phenomenon. His company, of whom he is President is Duck Works Criminal Consulting, LLC.

• He continually consults on ongoing criminal cases, such as threats to college and university staff and current ongoing stalking cases; his most recent a celebrity stalking case in the San Francisco Bay area.

• He lectures both in the United States and elsewhere outside of the U.S.; including venues like the 2016 National Coalition for Domestic Violence conference in Chandler AZ., and the state-wide training for The California District Attorneys Association. He assists states in amending their laws and countries in obtaining same. His most recent work was in Scotland and Norway. He can be reached via his website email located on his website, detectivemikeproctor.com. 

• Detective Proctor is also a longtime member of ATAP (Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.) ATAP is an international organization designed to assist law enforcement, educators, and victim advocates, concerning the issues of stalking, along with a heavy direction towards the area of threat assessment.

It took Julie Macfarlane a lifetime to say the words out loud – the words that finally broke the calm and traveled farther than she could have imagined. In this clear-eyed account, she confronts her own silence and deeply rooted trauma to chart a remarkable course from sexual abuse victim to agent of change.

Going Public merges the worlds of personal and professional, activism and scholarship. Drawing upon decades of legal training, Macfarlane decodes the well-worn methods used by church, school, and state to silence survivors, from first reporting to cross-examination to non-disclosure agreements. At the same time, she lays bare the isolation and exhaustion of going public in her own life, as she takes her abuser to court, challenges her colleagues, and weathers a defamation lawsuit.

The result is far more than a memoir. It’s a courageous and essential blueprint on how to go toe-to-toe with the powers behind institutional abuse and protectionism. At long last, Macfarlane’s experiences bring her to the most important realization of her life: that only she can stand in her own shoes, and only she can stand up and speak about what happened to her.

Dr Lorraine Sheridan is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist and an international expert on stalking and harassment. She completed Europe's first PhD on stalking and has so far published four books and more than 50 papers on the subject. Her research has taken an applied, interventionist angle and she frequently trains professionals involved in investigating and managing stalking and other crimes. She also advises on policy, and has advised a number of governments. She is a police accredited offender profiler and compiles psychological reports related to offenders. She regularly gives case management advice to the police, security personnel, celebrities and others on stalking, harassment, violence, risk assessment, malicious communications and similar topics. After a long stint as a senior academic at the University of Leicester, England, Lorraine moved to Scotland and became a part-time Senior Research Fellow at Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh. This was combined with self employment, clients including various police forces, government bodies, and private individuals and organisations in need of stalking and threat assessment management and interventions. Lorraine moved to Western Australia in February 2012 and has been a senior academic at Curtin University since 2014. She is currently President of the Asia Pacific Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence is a nonfiction self-help book written by Gavin de Becker. The book demonstrates how every individual should learn to trust the inherent "gift" of their gut instinct. By learning to recognise various warning signs and precursors to violence, it becomes possible to avoid potential trauma and harm.

Prof. Paul Mullen MBBS, MPhil, DSc, FRCPsych, FRANZCP . Professor Paul Mullen is Professor Emeritus at Monash University, Melbourne and Visiting Professor to the Institute of Psychiatry, London. He was recently Professor of Forensic Psychiatry, Monash University and Clinical Director, Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health, and previously Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago (1982-1992)and consultant Psychiatrist at the Royal Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals and Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry , London. He has published over 190 articles and referred journals, co-authored four books and contributed over 40 chapters in both the standard British textbooks on Forensic Psychiatry. . He is a member of the Fizated Research Group which conducts research into the stalking of public figures. 

Rhonda Saunders has been a criminal prosecutor for twenty-four years. She is the foremost expert in the United States on stalking. She prosecuted the stalkers of Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and Steven Speilberg. She established S.T.A.T. (Stalking and Threat Assessment Team) for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and the L.A. Stalking Task Force.

Rhonda Saunders is the author of Whisper Of Fear: The True Story of the Prosecutor Who Stalks The Stalkers.

Joseph A. Davis, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert in the field of public safety psychology, with a background in both psychology and law, has assembled a team of experienced professionals who have contributed to this comprehensive text, which educates, informs, and raises public awareness of this growing phenomenon. Including several case examples for study and clinical-forensic comparison, Stalking Crimes and Victim Protection will help you provide better services to victims, evaluate the mental state of the stalker, provide assessments of potential threat, and consult on security issues, case management, and safety planning.