Stalking and Domestic Violence Essay Example

Fatalities and injuries have been contributed to majorly by stalking in recent years. More women as compared to their male counterparts have been victims of stalking. It is important to recognize the warning signs of any situation that may pose a risk to violence to create prevention strategies. Stalking as a crime has long been neglected to its possible dangers on the victims, and this has caused an increased rate of incidences of this crime against persons. It is paramount to recognize the signs that one may be experiencing stalking and to know what indicators show the most dangerous threats on a person. This should be so as stalking poses a threat to violence.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Stalking refers to an act committed on two occasions separately in the least, and would reasonably be expected to be the cause of other people's solemn uneasiness or fear. The one perpetrating the action must have the intention to cause mental or physical harm that is serious or inflicts fear. The penalty of this kind of behavior is imprisonment of up to three years. In the case that a weapon is involved or is against a court order issued, then the penalty is an up to five years imprisonment.

When one is being stalked, they are persistently faced with the feelings of loss of control, distress, harassment, and fear. It is fundamental that one recognizes the signs that indicate the possible threat of being stalked and how to go about it when they confirm it to be true. Signs that one may be stalking you include repeated calls and texts, sending you gifts that are sometimes inappropriate, them knowing your schedule, showing up in places that you visit, a damaging property that belongs to you or sending you repeatedly mails (Stalking Information, 2019). It is often scary and can be very frustrating when someone keeps doing this to you. If you feel that this is happening to you, it is vital to reach out for help by telling someone you trust or contacting the police. When one knows the signs related to stalking they are protecting themselves as this can be a determinant for them keeping their lives. It is important that victims realize that stalking mostly occurs due to violence that is domestic or from relationships that ended (NCADV, 2019). Most of them have been intimate with their stalkers previously. This makes the danger level the victims face.

The office personnel ought to be conversant with the remedies to offer a person who is being stalked. These include asking the victim to stay away from the stalker and keep no sort of contact with them such as talking to them as the stalker will perceive any sort of contact to be a positive reinforcement for them to keep stalking you, they should let their family and friends know what is going on no matter how difficult this might be for them( Stalking Information,2019), to keep records so that they can act as evidence that they are being stalked in inclusion of the texts and deliveries the stalkers make, to enhance their safety levels such as routine changes to their daily activities and changing their home locks.

Important aspects of the stalking ought to be taken in a form intake. These are in inclusion of the nature of stalking, asking whether the stalker is violent towards the victim or not, what makes the victim think that the stalker may cause them harm, if they have been previously hurt by the stalker in any way (NCADV, 2019), if the stalker is in possession of a weapon and if they have tried to use it on the victim at any occasion. The frequency that the stalker is present ought to be considered too. Is the stalker one who appears at every destination the victim goes to, do they call them every day or once in a while, does the stalker keep mailing them, do they receive notifications of their timeline being frequently checked by the stalker? These questions should be present to detect the kind of stalker the victim is dealing with. The elements which qualify one to be a stalker should be expressed by the answers to these questions to take legal action against the perpetrator.

Stalking types vary, and this intake form should detect the kind that is involved with every different victim. The form inquires on the relationship that exists between the victim and the stalker if there has been none then how the victim perceives the stalker knows them( NCADV, 2019), how often they get disturbed and if they feel afraid and the reason why this is so. In the case that the victim has a pending legal case between the two, the form should take note of that.

An assessment from the evaluation of information acquired from the intake form ought to be drawn. This form should be drawn in conclusion from the response that the victim has given, with careful consideration of the risk that they face to protect them from any danger that they may face. In the case that a victim admits to having been in a relationship that was abusive with the offender, measures have to be taken to ensure a repeat of the same does not take place. It should mostly be alarming when the stalker has a weapon that they have tried on the victim. The frequency of the stalking behavior is an indication that they are the obsessed type and the matter should be handled immediately.

Conclusion

Stalking, a relatively new crime is as dangerous as any other crime. People who are victims of it are scared, and this disrupts their normal functioning. It is imperative that the victims realize the signs of being stalked and how to go about it. The respondents to the report of these crimes have to be aware of how they can help and the way to judge on the criticality of the matter at hand. Danger lays mostly in situations where the victim has been in an abusive relationship with the stalker and when the stalker has a weapon, which they have tried to use on the victim before - awareness on the signs that one may be stalked and what qualifies it as stalking is paramount

References

NCADV | National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (2019). Ncadv.org. Retrieved 10 February 2019, from https://ncadv.org/blog/posts/quick-guide-to-stalking-16-important-statistics-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

Stalking Information. (2019). Victimsofcrime.org. Retrieved 10 February 2019, from http://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/stalking-information