Raising awareness and encouraging the prevention of stalking by designating January 2024 as “National Stalking Awareness Month”.

Raising awareness and encouraging the prevention of stalking by designating January 2024 as “National Stalking Awareness Month”.

Whereas approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men in the United States, at some point during their lifetimes, have experienced stalking victimization, causing them to feel fearful, threatened, or concerned for their own safety or the safety of others;

Whereas it is estimated that, each year, more than 13,400,000 individuals in the United States report that they have been victims of stalking;

Whereas more than 85 percent of victims of stalking report that they have been stalked by someone they know;

Whereas nearly 70 percent of intimate partner stalking victims are threatened with physical harm by stalkers;

Whereas stalking is a risk factor for intimate partner homicide;

Whereas 3 in 4 female victims of intimate partner homicides were stalked during the year preceding the homicide by their killers;

Whereas 11 percent of victims of stalking report having been stalked for 5 or more years;

Whereas two-thirds of stalkers pursue their victims at least once a week;

Whereas many victims of stalking are forced to take drastic measures to protect themselves, including relocating, changing jobs, or obtaining protection orders;

Whereas the prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression is much higher among victims of stalking than the general population;

Whereas many victims of stalking do not report stalking to the police or contact a victim service provider, shelter, or hotline;

Whereas stalking is a crime under Federal law, the laws of all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and the territories of the United States, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice;

Whereas stalking affects victims of every race, age, culture, gender, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, and economic status;

Whereas national organizations, local victim service organizations, campuses, prosecutor’s offices, and police departments stand ready to assist victims of stalking and are working diligently to develop effective and innovative responses to stalking, including online stalking;

Whereas there is a need to improve the response of the criminal justice system to stalking through more aggressive investigation and prosecution;

Whereas there is a need for an increase in the availability of victim services across the United States, and those services must include programs tailored to meet the needs of victims of stalking;

Whereas individuals between 18 and 24 years old experience the highest rates of stalking victimization, and a majority of stalking victims report their victimization first occurred before the age of 25;

Whereas among undergraduate college students who experience intimate partner stalking, 40 percent also experience coercive control and 11 percent experience physical assault from the same partner;

Whereas 32 percent of undergraduate college students who experience stalking are also sexually assaulted;

Whereas college students with disabilities are twice as likely as college students without disabilities to experience stalking;

Whereas there is a need for an effective response to stalking on each campus;

Whereas 80 percent of stalking victims report being stalked with technology, such as phone calls, text messages, social media platforms, internet posts, emails, and electronic tracking;

Whereas victims of technology-facilitated stalking often report as much fear as victims who experience in-person stalking, and are just as concerned for their safety;

Whereas January 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the first “National Stalking Awareness Month”; and

Whereas the Senate finds that “National Stalking Awareness Month” provides an opportunity to educate the people of the United States about stalking: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved,