President Barrack Obama has declared January as National Stalking Awareness Month:
From the President:
Each year, millions of Americans face the fear, isolation, and danger of being victims of stalking. At some point in their lives, 1 in 6 women and 1 in 19 men will be stalked, and many of these crimes will go unreported and unprosecuted. During National Stalking Awareness Month, we rededicate ourselves to supporting victims of stalking and sharpen our resolve to bring perpetrators to justice.
Stalking is a pattern of unwanted contact that causes victims to fear for their safety or the safety of family members. It can include implied or explicit threats; harassment; or nonconsensual communication through phone calls, text messages, or emails. The perpetrator is usually someone the victim knows. Stalking behaviors may appear innocuous to outside observers, but victims often endure intense physical and emotional distress that affects every aspect of their lives. Many feel forced to move, or change jobs. Tragically, stalking tends to escalate over time, and it is sometimes followed by sexual assault or homicide.
My Administration remains committed to building a robust criminal justice response to stalking — one that holds offenders accountable, offers protection and support to all victims of violence, and empowers them to break the cycle of abuse. In January 2012, we held the first-ever White House stalking roundtable with survivors, law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and researchers. We have built partnerships with communities across the Nation to implement anti-stalking efforts. And we continue to support nonprofit organizations and local, State, and tribal governments as they develop more effective responses to violence against women — including direct services, crisis intervention, transitional housing, legal assistance to victims, court improvement, and training for law enforcement and courts.
We are also working to address the threat of cyberstalking. While advances in technology are making this crime more prevalent, they can also pose unique opportunities to address it. Communities are developing new tools that help connect victims to local services, and State governments are updating statutes to further protect people from cyberstalking. Through our Apps Against Abuse challenge, my Administration recognized mobile applications that are empowering people to defend themselves against dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Thanks to the dedicated work of law enforcement officials, community leaders, advocates, organizations, and survivors, our country has made great strides in combating stalking. During National Stalking Awareness Month, we resolve to keep building on this momentum until no American lives in fear of this crime.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2013 as National Stalking Awareness Month. I call upon all Americans to recognize the signs of stalking, acknowledge stalking as a serious crime, and urge those impacted not to be afraid to speak out or ask for help. Let us also resolve to support victims and survivors, and to create communities that are secure and supportive for all Americans.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.
BARACK OBAMA
The report says the perpetrator is usually someone the victim knows. If you know who it is, do something about it. People always want someone else to take care of them. If you are able to take care of yourself, but choose not to, who can you blame but yourself.
OMG, you are so ignorant. The only way women can protect themselves is by arming themselves or taking martial arts classes and becoming ninjas. Not everyone can do that. NCO’s are useless. LEO’s won’t do a thing nowadays unless you have been harmed. And then if you own a gun, some idiot newspaper will publish the name of all gun owners and your stalker will find out where you live if you have been successful in hiding for a while, as that newspaper did out east last week.
I was stalked 40 years ago for a couple years. He left me presents on my car, stole my garbage, and who knows what else. All fairly innocent, thank goodness. I didn’t know who it was for about a year until he suggested he was the one to me at a bar party. I then got terrified because he was a really scary person, terrible alcoholic and likely on drugs as well. I only knew him because I waited on him at work every week. I moved and he lost me, but then one night he saw me drive by him and he followed me home and drove around the block honking his horn, pulling in and out of my driveway for what seemed like an eternity. I asked for help from a LEO who had arrested him for DUI. He had a talk with him and got it stopped, thank goodness. The guy committed suicide about 20 years ago. My stalking case was very mild compared to what some people go through and I was afraid.
You have no idea how psycho some stalkers are!
If you will read my blog a little more carefully, I stated that if you know who it is, do something about it. As you stated in your ramblings, you did not know who it was for over a year, so there was really nothing you could do. After you found out who it was, you should have taken the initiative and done something about it. And if you don’t know what you should have done, go back and review “Survival 101”. Life is really very simple. You are either a survivor or a victim. It is your choice. And to paraphrase your last sentence, “You have no idea how psycho some survivors are”.
I took action immediately! I moved. I quit waiting on him at the business and had other people wait on him instead of me. I had friends who were protective of me when he would show up at my local hangout. He had quit actively pursuing me until he was leaving a bar one night and saw me drive by. I didn’t know he saw me until he started up with the honking, etc., around my house. I immediately talked to my LEO friend and he took action for me. Most people don’t know a LEO as well as I knew that one and most LEO’s would not do what that one did, especially now. It stopped immediately. I did NOT play the victim. But I was fortunate because I was able to make some changes like moving and avoiding him and he was not as persistent as some stalkers are. A lot of people do not have it that easy. Had he been persistent, he could have waited outside my business and followed me constantly, etc. I was just lucky he didn’t live and breathe me and listened to the LEO.
Just more political B.S****. This will hepl nothing and is nothing more that a way to show off. If you want to control stalking it starts at the state level.
Thank you, President Obama. Stalking has become a serious problem and has forced some people (mostly women)to be afraid to leave their home. It’s going on right here in River City and it’s about time we gave this a lot more attention.
Really?