National Stalking Awareness Week is coming up on 16 – 20 April and this year the focus is supporting victims’ mental health and physical safety
Stalking can be defined as unwanted or repeated surveillance, and can include harassment, following and excessive monitoring of someone. In a digital age, it also concerns following someone’s whereabouts and information through social media.
From 16 – 20 April, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and the National Stalking Consortium will encourage conversation around the psychological impact of being stalked, including the depression, panic attacks and agoraphobia that many victims experience after being stalked, and how others can support victims struggling with their mental and emotional health.
This year there will also be a National Stalking Awareness Week Conference in London on 9 April. The conference will see health professionals and expert speakers discuss the impact of stalking. Conference visitors will also be able to hear from a new report on the impact of stalking on victims and find out the ‘stories behind the statistics’, including people’s experiences of stalking and how it affected their mental health.
According to data from the Crime Survey of England and Wales, 700,000 women are stalked each year, while the Home Office reported 10,214 records of stalking and harassment offences in 2017-2018.
It’s so important to be aware of ourselves and what information we give out to people, particularly online as stalking can have a detrimental effect on victims.
From keeping your location private, to not sharing too much information about your family or workplace, there are various steps we can all do to help keep us safe online.
You can read all about how to stay safe online and the impact of being stalked and cyber stalked in our newest edition of Project.esc magazine.
