One in five women in Australia have experienced stalking

ABC NEWS (Australia)

One in five women have experienced stalking that is according to the Australian bureau of statistics. A survey found 2-million women and 650-thousand men aged 15 or older have experienced stalking. Women aged between 18 and 34 as well as financially insecure women are more likely to experience stalking than older, financially secure women.

Transcript

00:00Look, I think these figures, you know, do track with what we know across the domestic

00:06family and sexual violence sector, that this is an increasing concern for women in particular.

00:13Two million women, that's an awful lot of the Australian female population.

00:18We also know that, you know, the e-safety commissioner has been belling the cat on online

00:23abuse of women and that that's a very big part of this too.

00:27So yeah, you do believe it has actually been increasing over the years?

00:31Yeah, I think so.

00:32And what we know is that people have many different platforms to pursue stalking behaviours.

00:38So with the rise of social media and messaging sites, we can really see that people are actually

00:47mobilising to use those.

00:49And what we know is when it's in the context of intimate partner violence, it can take

00:53many different forms as well.

00:55So we do know that we're seeing this get more serious and that it is an indicator,

01:00particularly in the situation where there's an intimate partner relationship, previous

01:05or current, that this is an indicator of escalating concerns.

01:10And so you're with an organisation at the coalface of this.

01:13Can you give us any examples that you've come across of people experiencing stalking?

01:19Yeah, so we hear quite a lot from women on our 1800 Full Stop National line about women

01:26who, in domestic violence relationships, find mobile devices attached to their car, their

01:32phones have apps attached that allow the perpetrator to track them.

01:38So we know that those things are happening.

01:40We also hear of the use of those constant texting or messaging across multiple platforms.

01:49So a woman might be trying to get through her day or perhaps get dinner for the kids

01:55and she's getting multiple messages.

01:57And it might be texting, it might be WhatsApp, it might be Instagram messaging.

02:02So that overwhelming feeling that you just can't get away from it.

02:06And it's often happening in intimate partner relationships.

02:10And just how hard can it be for someone to extract themselves from that situation safely?

02:17Yeah, I think the stats say about 30% of the stalking that women experience by men is in

02:23the context of an intimate partner relationship.

02:25So what that tells us is that it tracks with what we know.

02:29Secondly, it really shows how hard it is to kind of cut off contact.

02:35And then a lot of women are in this situation where they're co-parenting with their former

02:40partner.

02:41They may actually be, you know, forced to do that with family law orders.

02:46And so they may actually be in a situation where this kind of unwelcome, constant, you

02:51know, hyper-stalking or hyper-monitoring is occurring.

02:56And they actually can't say, I never want to speak to you again.

02:59They don't have that choice.

03:01So you know, often people are in quite complex situations that this really can exacerbate

03:06women's sense of safety and security.

03:09And so there are so many different situations in which people can encounter stalking, but

03:14Can you give people some general tips about how they might deal with it?

03:18Yeah, I mean, I think for a start, we need to look to those of us around others.

03:23So often a person who's being stalked really has no control over the fact that that's happening.

03:30We'd want everyone to seek assistance, you know, along the way, if they think that they've

03:34got monitoring devices installed on their car or in their phone or in their homes.

03:39And you can contact, you know, some of the staying home, leaving violence and other services

03:44that are in New South Wales and nationally similar services, domestic violence services

03:48can help.

03:49But we would also say, you know, that kind of digital hygiene is important just to keep

03:54an eye on who's following you on social media.

03:57You know, do you need to keep your accounts private?

04:00But let's not shift the accountability onto people who are subject to this behaviour.

04:04Let's make sure that as family, friends, as people in universities, high schools and workplaces,

04:10that when people are telling us about their concerns, and let's face it, 52% of women

04:15who'd been stalked said that they'd experienced anxiety and panic attacks as a result.

04:21This is serious and we should be listening to women and supporting them to either seek

04:25help or, you know, take actions to protect their safety.

04:29There's a lot that we can do as a community.

04:32And how do you feel about how the laws stand on this at the moment?

04:35Look, about 30% of those women who'd been subject to stalking had spoken to law enforcement

04:42agencies.

04:43That tracks with what we know about 20% of DV survivors, 8% of people who've been subject

04:48to rape and sexual assault report to police.

04:51So it tracks that it's much lower than the number.

04:55So it's not a solution to only focus on the criminal legal system and our laws, but we

05:00need to make sure that our laws and our police capabilities keep up with the really growing

05:07forms of stalking that we know that are being used against women these days in order to

05:13undermine their sense of safety, but also to actively monitor and track them.

05:18And, you know, there is a link that a significant number of women who were stalked went on to

05:25then to either be threatened or experience actual assault, and that's very serious.

05:30And so if someone's watching this now and wants to get in touch, how do they get in

05:34touch with your organisation?

05:35You can call us on 1800FULLSTOP and, you know, have a conversation with our staff and we

05:41can help you access those services, particularly if you're concerned about being stalked or

05:45monitored via those devices installed on your car or phone.

05:49I'd also say 1800RESPECT is available and they can also support you.

05:55Really what I'd say is if you are being stalked or harassed, remember that you didn't ask

05:59for this.

06:00It's not your fault and it's not your job to find a way to shut that person down.

06:06Really encourage you to, you know, reach out for support, tell people around you your safety

06:11matters and you really matter, and you don't have to be silenced or shamed by this behaviour.

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