cyber-stalking and internet harassment

Encyclopedia of Womenin Today's World

Cyber-Stalking and Internet Harassment

Contributors: Jimmie ManningEditors: Mary Zeiss Stange & Carol K. Oyster & Jane E. SloanBook Title: Encyclopedia of Women in Today's WorldChapter Title: "Cyber-Stalking and Internet Harassment"Pub. Date: 2011Access Date: October 24, 2013Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.City: Thousand OaksPrint ISBN: 9781412976855Online ISBN: 9781412995962DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995962.n197Print pages: 367-369

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Page 3 of 6 Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World: Cyber-Stalking and Internet Harassment

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995962.n197Across the world, more than 2 million women are stalked annually-and many moreare harassed via Internet platforms. Conservative statistics estimate 1 in 12 womenwill be stalked at some point in their lives. Although the proliferation of Internet andsocial networking Websites or platforms has not impacted the number of stalking cases,digital technologies make it easier than ever to have quick access to a person's privateinformation or location. While the Internet makes stalking easier, it also allows womengreater access to laws, organizations, and information that will help them if stalked. Asdigital technologies continue to change, so do stalking and other harassing behaviors.

Colloquial, Academic, and Legal Definitionsof Cyber-StalkingBecause of the newness of the technology that allows its existence, cyber-stalkingis difficult to define-especially as colloquial, academic, and legal uses of the wordcontinue to compete for meaning. Colloquial definitions are usually driven by fictiveand news media representations where women meet someone online-usually aman with a romantic interest-and later are terrorized or murdered. The term is alsoused interpersonally to describe what happens when an acquaintance, ranging fromsomeone barely known to an ex-lover, continues to follow someone via the Internet.Other everyday perceptions of cyber-stalking typically include child predators preyingon young women in chatrooms, remote access to personal Webcams, or following thevictim's friends online to gain information.

While academic definitions of the terms often include the above situations, they oftenexamine other instances as well. Many Internet scholars point out that most peopleengage stalker-like behavior at times, and that this behavior can be normal and healthy.People stalk, or keep tabs on others, for non-nefarious reasons. For instance, it is notuncommon for someone to meet another person and want to know more about them.Women, in particular, might Google a potential romantic interest, work colleague, orbabysitter. Even though no harmful intent is being enacted, this Googling of anotherperson is technically stalking because it is harvesting information about him or herwithout consent or approval. Because of the benign nature of many stalking situations,



researchers often distinguish between lesser forms of stalking and more severeforms such as obsessive relational intrusion, or the willful and harmful intrusion uponsomeone's life. Most cases of severe stalking usually occur with the stalker's hope offorming some kind of relationship with the person being stalked.

In cases of unwanted stalking, legal definitions of the terms become important. Courtsand lawmakers continue to struggle with how to adjust laws to protect those whomay be stalked or harassed because of the continuously evolving nature of digitaltechnologies and how liberties regarding information seeking can conflict with the rightsof individuals privacy and well-being. It is also difficult for law enforcement agenciesto enforce cyber-stalking or Internet harassment laws. Prior to the emergence ofinteractive digital technologies, calls could be traced with relative ease and distancerestraints could be placed on stalkers. In comparison, it is difficult to monitor Websiteuse by an individual; and stalkers can abandon one Web identity to create another withease.

Internet HarassmentWhile cyber-stalking typically encroaches upon an individual's relational space, Internetharassment encroaches upon other aspects of an individual's life and is commonfor both men and women. Forms of Internet harassment include identity theft, publicembarrassment through digital platforms, spam or unsolicited e-mails, breakinginto online accounts (such as social networking sites, e-mail, or banking), and rudeonline behavior (trolling or flaming). Usually Internet harassment is proliferated by themismanagement of personal information by an account holder, although some forms(particularly online embarrassment, such as someone posting a false rumor or indecentpicture to an Internet Web page) can happen with little to no personal information beingsurrendered by an individual.

For instance, identity theft can be facilitated through online credit reporting bureaus.Gaining access to a credit record usually involves knowing a person's name, socialsecurity number, and prior addresses. Where credit reports once required a wait periodas they were requested through postal [p. 368 ] systems, hand processed, and thenreturned to a verifiable address, now they can be obtained in minutes. To date, no



country has laws to protect information being distributed online by credit agencies orother information databases. Sometimes individuals unwittingly give others informationthat will allow access to personal records through phishing scams. For instance, ascammer will send a letter that appears to be from someone's bank requesting accountinformation. The person, often scared that their account will be closed if the informationis not supplied, will provide access information. Then the account is used by theperpetrator.

Women as StalkersWhile those who are stalked are stereotypically women and those who stalk arestereotypically men, along with the emergence of the Internet one of these stereotypeshas become false. Women of all ages receive a significant amount of stalking, butthe most stalked individuals around the world are females age 20 to 29. When itcomes to stalkers, however, things have changed since the arrival of interactive digitaltechnologies. Where men used to account for almost 90 percent of stalkers, they nowaccount for about half. Over 45 percent of stalkers are now women-although it is nearimpossible to know how much an influence the Internet has upon this growth in thenumber of female stalkers. Statistics regarding Internet harassment suggest both menand women are targeted about the same, but the sex of perpetrators is still largelyunknown due to their often not being caught.

Jimmie Manning Northern Kentucky University

http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412995962.n197See Also:

Further Readings

Baym, Nancy K Personal Connections in the Digital Age . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage,2010.

Bocij, Paul Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect YourFamily . Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.



Spitzberg, Brian H. and William R. Cupach The Dark Side of InterpersonalCommunication . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007.

Survivors in Action . Programs. http://survivorsinaction.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=10&Itemid=32 (accessed December 2009).Wolak, Janice, et al. Online Predators and Their Victims: Myths, Realities andImplications for Prevention and Treatment. American Psychologist v. 63/2 (2008).http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.63.2.111

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