January is Stalking Awareness Month

Stalking Awareness Month takes place every January and here at CCVAP, we like to re-educate our community about the details of stalking.

What is Stalking? - A pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress.

Unwanted contact including phone calls, texts, and contact via social media, unwanted gifts, showing up/approaching an individual or their family/friends, monitoring, surveillance, property damage, and threats.

A common misconception is that stalking usually looks like someone in a hoodie following a person around. While this can be true, the digital age has opened several new avenues for how stalking can occur.

Stalking is not romantic, is not a compliment, and is not harmless behavior. Stalking is a tactic of power and control that predators and abusers use to victimize people. It can happen to anyone and can be extremely frightening and stressful.

Nearly one in two (or approximately 48.8 percent) of American Indian and Alaska Native women experienced stalking in their lifetime. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs/nisvsStalkingReport.pdf

Approximately 42% of women and nearly 30% of men in American Indian and Alaska Native communities have experienced stalking in their lifetimes. https://www.justice.gov/archives/ovw/blog/ovw-observes-20th-anniversary-national-stalking-awareness-month

As victim advocates, here’s what we recommend:

• Safety Planning
• Keeping an incident log
• Changing your daily routine
• Notifying family and friends
• Seeking a protective order with help from an advocate

Call the Cahuilla Consortium 24hr victim helpline if you are experiencing stalking!