Stalking and sexual assault have become increasingly present on today’s college campuses with developments like Facebook, MySpace and online journals.
The Web sites, which can display a student’s most personal information including their phone numbers, email addresses and even class schedules, can be dangerous, said Jennifer Fuller, coordinator of sexual assault services at MSU.
“Web sites like Facebook and MySpace are a wealth of info for stalkers,” Fuller said. “Students put way too much personal-identifying information on them. It provides potential stalkers a way to find out information much too easily,” she said.
Assistant professor of psychology Hillary Sinclair agrees that allowing your personal information to be studied leaves great potential for danger. The easiest way for a stalker to follow a victim is knowing that victim’s schedule, Sinclair said.
Schedules are often posted on Facebook for public viewing.
The rates of stalking are shocking, Sinclair said.
“Nationally, using your most conservative definition of stalking, which incorporates a high standard of fear, 1.8 million people in the United States are affected by stalking every year, including 400,000 men,” Sinclair said. “If you lessen the degree of how high the fear requirement is, the number of men that say they’ve been stalked actually doubles [to] 800,000.”
College campuses can create a microcosm for stalking, she said.
“The rate of victimization on college campuses is higher. Thirteen to 27 percent report being actually stalked,” she said.
The reasons behind this high rate for the population vary but center around the fact that young people are often targets of crime, Sinclair said. Also, stalking often stems from relationships.
Often, these numbers may be inaccurate because only about 60 percent of women and 30 percent of men who are victims of stalking actually report their incidences.
“The number one reason that people give for why they don’t report is that they don’t think the police can do anything,” Sinclair said. “98 percent felt that the police just wouldn’t believe them. 62 percent and 72 percent felt ashamed.”
Sometimes, victims do not report incidences because they do not feel they are being abused seriously enough. However, stalking can range from harassment to repeated following.
“Stalking is a repetitive pattern of unwanted, harassing or threatening behavior committed by one person against another,” Mindy Mechanic, spokesperson for the National Violence Against Women Prevention Center explained on its Web site. “Acts include telephone harassment, being followed, receiving unwanted gifts and other similar forms of intrusive behavior.”
Although many people have stereotypes about stalkers and sexual assailants, Sinclair said victims almost always know their stalkers in some way.
“Anyone can be a stalker,” she said. “The majority, about 75 percent of stalkers, are someone that is known to you.”
The most valuable tool a victim can utilize to deter a stalker is a journal. Document every incident, every unwanted gift, phone call or disturbing sighting, Sinclair said.
Photograph gifts and send them back right away. Let friends and family know what is going on, and never be afraid to go to the police, She said.
There are also services on campus that are free to students.
“Sexual Assault Services is a free and confidential service to students, male or female,” Fuller said. “It is associated with the Sexual Assault Response Team, which is made up of representatives from MSU departments.”