Reporting Harassment and Stalking to the Police: A Qualitative Study of Victims’ Experiences

Taylor-Dunn, Holly; Bowen, Erica; Gilchrist, Elizabeth

doi:10.1177/0886260518811423

Cited by 48 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Consistent with previous research (e.g. Taylor-Dunn et al 2018;HMCPSI 2017), service users described a lack of understanding by police who failed to take them seriously. This continued under COVID-19 with long delays in applying for protection orders and downloading evidence from electronic devices.…”

Section: Criminal Justice Responsesupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The fear of not being believed and the fear of the consequences of reporting are common reasons for non-reporting. When victims do report, most experience inaction or inappropriate action from the police (Quinn-Evans, et al 2019;Taylor-Dunn et al 2018). Practitioners working across different criminal justice and victim service agencies report that stalking victims need to be believed, have their feelings validated and not have their experiences minimised or trivialised (Boehnlein et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Consequences of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Stalking Victimisation

2020

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Stalking involves repeated unwanted communication, harassment, and intrusive behaviour. This brief report draws on a service evaluation undertaken immediately prior to and during the 2020 COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic creates a paradox when considering safety in the home, but it is important to recognise the dangers this presents to many victims of stalking. The information presented in this report is based on existing literature and early evidence from semi-structured interviews and discussions with 15 victims and six practitioners. Whilst lockdown measures might appear to be a time when victims are less accessible to their stalkers, early evidence from this study suggests that their vulnerability is increased. Technology has helped to facilitate stalking behaviours by providing stalkers with new approaches to control, humiliate, threaten and isolate their victims. Some lockdown restrictions have provided increased opportunities for stalkers to monitor their victims and the professional uncertainty and recognition around stalking has continued, coupled with delays in the criminal justice system. The COVID-19 crisis has reversed gains made by stalking victims and has imprisoned some victims in their homes making their whereabouts easier to monitor. Stalking behaviour has not ceased as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions and the risk of harm to victims remains significant. Effective practice, policy and legal responses are required for both the victims and perpetrators of stalking during the pandemic and afterwards.

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Section: Criminal Justice Responsesupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Consequences of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Stalking Victimisation

2020

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“…Stalking victims contact the police when their situation has escalated and informal help-seeking behaviors are no longer working to thwart the stalkers’ agenda (J. Campbell & Moore, 2011, Reyns & Englebrecht, 2010, 2014; Taylor-Dunn et al., 2018). As a result, officers’ first interaction with victims is critical.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stalking victims often contact law enforcement when the unwanted contact has escalated and the stalker’s actions have threatened the safety or themselves or others (Campbell & Moore, 2011, Reyns & Englebrecht, 2010, 2014; Taylor-Dunn et al., 2018). Yet, few studies have examined how police officers specifically address stalking complaints.…”

Section: Policing Stalking Complaintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sign of the Crimes: Examining Officers’ Identification of, and Arrest for, Stalking in Domestic Violence Complaints

Brady

Reyns

Dreke³

2020

Police Quarterly

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Despite stalking as a risk factor for intimate partner homicide, few studies have explored officer decision making in domestic violence (DV) complaints that involve stalking. This study employs the focal concerns perspective to identify the legal and extra-legal factors associated with officers' identification of, and arrest for, stalking in DV complaints. Using a statewide sample of 230 DV complaints from Rhode Island, findings indicated that nearly one in four suspects were arrested for stalking in DV complaints (25.2%). Stalking acknowledgment was associated with the location of the offense, prior police involvement, and the total number of offenses committed. Officers were more likely to arrest suspects for stalking in DV complaints if the victim was willing to cooperate. Support for the focal concerns perspective varied according to the type of decision. Avenues for future research, as well as theoretical and practical implications, are discussed.

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“…* Tammy's story of being stalked, as well as the difficulty in finding help, is not unique. Even though stalking is associated with assault and lethal assault (Logan and Walker 2017;McFarlane et al 2002), as well as significant victim fear (Davis et al 2002;Fleming et al 2013;Logan andWalker 2009, 2017;Sheridan and Lyndon 2012), the justice system often minimizes or dismisses stalking victimization (Brady and Nobles 2017;Korkodeilou 2017;Ngo 2019;Taylor-Dunn et al 2018). Overall, national data suggest that one in four women is abused by an intimate partner, one in five women has experienced completed or attempted rape, and one in six women will be stalked in their lifetime, which means that millions of women experience interpersonal violence in the United States each year (Smith et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Having a Gun for Safety Associated with Feeling Safer, Safety Planning, and More Assertive Responses to Conflict Among Women with Interpersonal Victimization Experiences?

Logan

2020

Violence and Gender

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Some violence victims are advised to obtain a gun for safety, while others are discouraged from obtaining a gun. This study compared women with interpersonal victimization experiences who did (n = 107) and who did not (n = 372) own a gun on their worry about victimization, safety planning activities, safety efficacy, and responses to conflict. Results suggest that women gun owners did not worry about their safety more than nongun owners, but they did spend significantly more time and attention on general safety planning, they had higher safety efficacy, were more comfortable with thinking about their personal safety, they were more confident in their ability to stop an attacker, and more of them use safety devices beyond a gun compared to nongun owners. Furthermore, more gun owners indicate that they would respond assertively to someone they felt was crossing their personal boundary, felt better about how they responded during their most recent interpersonal conflict, were more likely to say they would intervene if they saw someone being attacked, and more of them had given safety advice to friends and family recently than nongun owners. This study also found that more gun owners had been threatened with a gun than nongun owners. Information from this study may help professionals who work with victims. In some cases it may be better to work with victims interested in obtaining a gun rather than to outright discourage them to mitigate gun risks and to ensure that they have safety plans and strategies that go beyond the gun.

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Reporting Harassment and Stalking to the Police: A Qualitative Study of Victims’ Experiences

Cited by 48 publications

References 39 publications

The Consequences of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Stalking Victimisation

The Consequences of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Stalking Victimisation

A Sign of the Crimes: Examining Officers’ Identification of, and Arrest for, Stalking in Domestic Violence Complaints

Is Having a Gun for Safety Associated with Feeling Safer, Safety Planning, and More Assertive Responses to Conflict Among Women with Interpersonal Victimization Experiences?

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