Cyberstalking
Uploaded by Bethri on Feb 28, 2006
Cyberstalking
When considering stalking one does not often consider cyberstalking because it is not done in the traditional way, i.e., a male or female pursuing and following another person in the flesh. Cyberstalking while many feel is not a "real" crime, most certainly instills fear in the intended victim, many times as much or even more than the traditional stalking measures.
I chose cyberstalking because as I was perusing topics I came across this and I even thought at first, how scary can this be, they cannot actually see me or touch me, so how can this really be "stalking" in the true sense of the word. My research proved how very wrong I was!
Many stalkers - online or off, are motivated by a desire to exert control over their victims and engage in similar types of behavior to accomplish this. "Most cyberstalking victims know or have known their stalker and begins when one tries to break off the relationship. There are however many known cases of strangers cyberstalking also. Given the enormous amount of personal information available through the Internet, a cyberstalker can easily locate private information about a potential victim with a few mouse clicks. (1)
The following case study represents the way in which a person can be cyberstalked without even having a computer, something I never even considered!
The victim met the perpetrator at church, and continually rejected his romantic attempts. The perpetrator, a fifty-year-old security guard, retaliated to her rejection by posting her personal details to the Internet. These included her physical description, address and telephone number, and even including details about how one could bypass her home security system. He also posted false rape and “gang-bang” fantasies to on-line forums. On approximately half a dozen occasions, men arrived at the victim's home in the hope of “cashing in” on these supposed fantasies. As the victim posted messages to her door stating these requests were false, the perpetrator posted messages on-line stating that these were simply tests to determine who was in fact ‘worthy’ of her fantasies.
The victim's mother states that she had men coming to her door at all hours of the night, and that “she got dozens of calls by men who would leave filthy, disgusting messages”. The victim was eventually forced from her home, suffered...