The prevalence of stalking: Current data from a German victim survey

Abstract

The present study, as part of a large-scale victim survey, examines the prevalence and nature of stalking in a representative German quota sample (N = 5779). Applying a broad definition of stalking, the lifetime prevalence added up to 15 percent, depending on respondents' age, gender, and immigrant background, as well as household size and relationship status. Conditional inference trees revealed that gender, relationship status, and household size were key factors in identifying victims of stalking. Offenders mostly committed stalking against the opposite gender. This pertains especially to female (vs. male) victims. In most cases the offender and victim knew each other prior to the stalking. The results are compared with national and international findings. Implications and potential limitations are discussed.

Sexual Violence against Women in Germany: Prevalence and Risk Markers

“…Prior to working on the self-administered questionnaire, participants’ demographic information was obtained in a face-to-face interview [17]. …”

“…Participants were recruited by a specialized institute according to the aforementioned characteristics. Prior to working on the self-administered questionnaire, participants’ demographic information was obtained in a face-to-face interview [ 17 ].…”

“…In order to identify risk markers associated with sexual violence victimizations, we used non-parametric C-Tree analyses based on the principle of recursive partitioning [ 17 , 18 , 19 ]. As a non-parametric modelling technique, C-Tree analyses can be applied to a large set of potential predictor variables in order to compute complex interactions simultaneously.…”

“…However, such reports often remain on the surface of descriptively informing about prevalence rates and certain victimization realities. Whereas these accounts are of major importance in order to raise public awareness and are necessary to understand the burden of the problem in different populations [15], it seems equally important to dig deeper into the matter—for example by applying statistically advanced analyses of specific factors that might increase the risk of experiencing gender-based violence (e.g., [16,17,18,19]).…”

“…Estimates from previous surveys suggest that about every seventh woman in Germany will experience sexual violence during her life [ 58 ]. Moreover, further research is needed regarding specific markers that are associated with victimization risks—thereby accounting for diverse predictor variables and complex interactions simultaneously [ 17 ].…”