Stalking Help

STALKING IS A PATTERN OF UNWANTED BEHAVIOR

• Behavior that involves monitoring, harassing, repeatedly contacting or following another person.
• Behavior that would cause a reasonable person to feel frightened, threatened or intimidated; and actually causes these reactions in the person being contacted, monitored, harassed or followed.

STALKING IS A COMMUNITY CONCERN

• 7.5 million people are stalked in one year in the U.S.
• An estimated 15% of women and 6% of men have been a victim of stalking during their lifetimes
• 61% of female victims and 44% of male victims were stalked by a current or former intimate partner.
• 25% of female victims and 32% of male victims are stalked by an acquaintance

Although stalking can be difficult to recognize, STALKING IS A CRIME. 
The Seattle City Attorney's Office recognized in 2016 the toll that stalking takes on its victims and started providing specialized prosecution and advocacy on cases of non-intimate partner stalking. Previously only domestic violence cases received specialized services. However, stalking situations can be similarly high risk. Stalking cases often start out as a misdemeanor and develop into a felony. The Seattle City Attorney's Office works closely with the King County Prosecutor's Office as these cases escalate. 

In 2013 Washington State created the Stalking Protection Order, providing needed relief to those experiencing stalking behavior by someone they were not in a family or dating relationship with. This provides a civil option for those unable or uninterested in pursuing criminal options.

For comprehensive stalking information, including civil and criminal options, safety planning, and local resources, visit the website below:
www.stalkingprotectionorder.org