NCJ Number
197411
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 17 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2002 Pages: 429-443
Date Published
August 2002
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Using the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey, this study estimated lifetime stalking victimization among women and men ages 18 to 65, identified correlates of being stalked, and explored the association between being stalked and mental and physical health status.
Abstract
The NVAW is a random-digit dial telephone survey of 8,000 men and 8,000 women sampled to be representative of the U.S. population. The purpose of the NVAW survey was to estimate rates of sexual assaults, physical assaults, and stalking victimization among men and women. This study used the 20-item stalking index (Tjaden and Thoennes, 1998) for the NVAW survey. Men and women who answered "yes" to any of the specific stalking behaviors, reported that this behavior occurred on more than one occasion, and reported some fear of the stalker were categorized as "stalked." The study also differentiated stalking between those who were "very" afraid of the stalker and those who were "somewhat" afraid of the stalker. Demographic factors available from the survey were age, ethnicity, current employment status, current marital status, educational attainment, family income, and number of children and adults living in the respondent's household. Health indicators on the survey pertained to current mental and physical health or a history of chronic health conditions or injuries. According to the prescribed definition of being "stalked," the survey found that 14.2 percent of women and 4.3 percent of men had been victims. Among those stalked, 41 percent of women and 28 percent of men were stalked by an intimate partner. Women were more than 13 times as likely to be "very afraid" of their stalker than men. Negative health consequences from being stalked were similar for both men and women; those stalked were significantly more likely to report poor current health, depression, injury, and substance use. Implications of these findings are drawn for victims, service providers, and the criminal justice system. 1 figure, 3 tables, and 35 references