Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking

Cyberstalking

The National Sexual Assault Online Hotline was launched in part due to concerns that young people were having online conversations regarding sexual assault via unsecure email, chatrooms, and discussion boards.  As more people are online, RAINN is also concerned about opportunities for cyberstalking. This page is designed to inform people about the dangers of cyberstalking and provide safety tips to help you stay safe.

Connections between Cyberstalking and Sexual Assault:

Nielson NetRatings reported in 2004 that nearly 75%, or 204.3 million Americans, have Internet access from their homes, with women representing the higher proportion of web surfers1.

1 in every 12 women is a victim of stalking in her lifetime, making abuse on the Internet an easy tool to initiate stalking behavior.2

31% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted by that partner.3

76% of intimate partner murder victims had been stalked by their intimate partner.4

81% of women who are stalked by an intimate partner are also physically assaulted by that partner. 5

Cyberstalking, although fairly recent, has evolved into a serious crime due to the rapid development of technology in today’s world. Like offline stalking, cyberstalking is a form of personal terrorism. Similarly, cyberstalking may precede offline stalking, sexual assault, physical violence, or even murder.

Definition of cyberstalking:

A 1999 Department of Justice study defines cyberstalking as the use of the Internet, e-mail, or other electronic communications devices to stalk another person. Stalking generally involves harassing or threatening behavior that an individual engages in repeatedly, such as following a person, appearing at a person's home or place of business, making harassing phone calls, leaving written messages or objects, or vandalizing a person's property.6
Cyberstalkers commonly follow their targets via chat rooms, listservs, discussion or message boards in which they target participants. Other examples may include:

• Sending threatening instant messages (IM’s), text messages, and emails;
• Stealing a person’s online identity;
• Hacking and/or monitoring a person’s computer;
• Forming a website in honor of a victim;
• Encouraging third-party stalking by posting a victim’s address or phone number online.7

Cyberstalking and Young Adults:

Individuals aged 18 to 29 represent 52% of stalking victims8. Female students in the Sexual Victimization of College Women study9 reported emotional or psychological injury in almost 3 out of 10 stalking cases, and in 10.3 percent of incidents, the victim reported that the stalker “forced or attempted sexual contact.”

Predictable routines of student class schedules and activities, easy access to campuses and campus housing/classroom buildings, and availability of personal information in student directories make students easy targets for stalkers, particularly student-stalkers.10

The flood of online social networking sites (link to RAINN Internet Safety Month page http://www.rainn.org/news/2007-internetsafetymonth.index.html) and increased popularity of online dating may lead to even more opportunity for online stalking and harassment. While cyberstalking is a specific kind of harassment, the possible severity of its emotional and physical threat is similar to the fear caused by offline stalking, with the same potential consequences.

Please read below for tips on how to keep your computer safe:

Computer Safety Tips— Clearing Your Cache, Cookies, and History:

For more info, please visit RAINN’s Internet Safety Information Page: http://www.rainn.org/news/2007-internetsafetymonth.index.html

How to Report a Cybercrime:

To obtain more information on how to report an internet crime such as stalking, harassment, or exploitation:

• Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm#cc
• The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): http://www.ic3.gov/

Current Legal Situation:

• State Laws: 45 states have laws that explicitly include email and other forms of electronic communication in their harassment/stalking statutes.

However, even states with specific cyberstalking laws do not fully address the issue of cyberstalking. For example, both Florida and North Carolina require direct contact with the victim for the law to be applicable, thus leaving out third party harassment cases where the victim is encouraged to be harassed by others by the stalker.

Three states specifically address this third party harassment: Ohio, Rhode Island, and Washington.

There are only three states that have no cyberstalking laws: Idaho, Nebraska, and the District of Columbia.

The only states that have specific cyberstalking laws are Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Washington.11

Federal Laws: There are 3 federal laws that are applicable to cyberstalking:

- The Interstate Communications Act: makes it a crime to transmit any communication through interstate commerce containing "any threat" to injure another person. This law only applies to cyberstalking cases where there is an actual threat.

- The Telephone Harassment Statute: was amended in 2006 to apply to email; however the law does not apply unless these conditions are met:
1) The identity of the stalker must be anonymous.
2) The communication must be direct.
The maximum punishment for a violation is 2 years in jail (offline stalking laws can have as much as 5 years jail time).

-The Federal Interstate Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act: addresses concerns that the other two federal laws miss (defendant does not have to travel physically across state lines and includes any type of computer/internet harassment) but does not address third party harassment.12

Online and Offline Resources:

For more information on specific stalking laws in your state visit these websites:

• Stalking Laws: http://www.usdoj.gov/cgibin/outside.cgi?http://www.ncvc.org/src/main.asp...
• VictimLaw: http://www.usdoj.gov/cgibin/outside.cgi?http://www.victimlaw.info/victim...
• ABA: Stalking/Harassment Civil Protection Orders: http://www.abanet.org/domviol/docs/StalkingHarassmentCPOChartJune07.pdf

National Resources:

• Office of Victims of Crime Stalking Guide:
  http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/stalk/welcome.html
• U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women
  http://www.enditnow.gov/stalking/flash.html
• National Network to End Domestic Violence: Safety Net Project
  http://www.nnedv.org/ourprograms/safety-net-project/ (800) 799-SAFE
• National Center for Victims of Crime: Stalking Resource Center
  http://www.ncvc.org/src (800) FYI-CALL
• Online organizations:
  CyberAngels http://www.cyberangels.org/stalking.html
  Working to Halt Online Abuse http://www.haltabuse.org
• Local Police (911)
  Your Internet Service Provider (ISP), E-mail Provider, Server

National Sexual Assault Online Hotline:
Developed by RAINN, the National Sexual Assault Online Hotline (NSAOH) is the first secure web-based crisis hotline providing live and anonymous support through an interface as intuitive as instant messaging.

To get more information about getting involved, please email coordinator@rainn.org.

Definitions:

History- a list of the different URLs (or websites) you have visited. This is what fills in the URL line for you when you are returning to a website you visited before.

Cache- the area of the hard disc where web pages are stored when a page is downloaded from the internet. It allows for recently viewed pages to be viewed more rapidly or even offline.

Cookies- storage files that collect personal information that you have provided to particular vendors on the internet (e.g., your name, address, phone number, things you have ordered, etc.)

Spyware- applications that can take over your web browser home page, display endless pop-up ads, install toolbars you don’t want and don’t need, track what websites you have been to and, for the really bad stuff, attempt to steal your personal information.

Stalkware- Programs that have been put onto a user’s computer by an abuser, stalker or other person wishing to track and monitor your computer activity. These programs may log everything a computer user types, take snapshots at frequent intervals of what’s on his/her computer and track every website the user visits.

Keystroke logging- a type of software that is usually installed without the user’s knowledge. It records every key press the user types on their computer. Most of these programs are designed to run behind the scenes, completely hidden to even the most skilled computer users.

Virus- parasitic programs that enter your computer without your consent and begin to replicate themselves. They are spread in a variety of ways, including camouflaged email attachments or embedded into programs downloaded illegally via file-sharing networks.

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1 Nielson NetRatings
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAT/is_2004_May/ai_n6039051

2 Tjaden, Patricia and Nancy Thoenees, April 1998. Stalking in America: Findings From the National Violence Against Women Survey, available at:http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/169592.pdf.

3 See ii

4 Senate Resolution 414, National Stalking Awareness Month, Introduced by Senator Joe Biden.

5 See iv

11 Source: p.25-28, p.42-61 Naomi Harlin Goodno, "Cyberstalking, a New Crime: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Current State and Federal Laws" (September 4, 2006). bepress Legal Series. Working Paper 1689. http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1689

12 Source: Naomi Harlin Goodno, "Cyberstalking, a New Crime: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Current State and Federal Laws" at 30-36, 62. (September 4, 2006). BePress Legal Series, Working Paper 1689. http://law.bepress.com/expresso/eps/1689