Stalkers are people who express obsessive, frightening, or violent tendencies toward a particular person. They can range from mild to severe and from short-lived to long-running. A stalker can be a family member, friend, or romantic partner. Anyone can become a stalker, but there are certain mental characteristics that typically lead someone to stalking. A stalker can be anyone of any gender or sexual orientation. There are also various types of stalking, including online stalking and telephone stalking. A person who is being stalked may not even know it since the behavior is directed at him or her without the victim's knowledge. In most cases, the stalker will show signs of escalating his actions; this is known as deviancy and is another trait that leads people to becoming stalkers.
A stalker's actions can sometimes escalate into violent situations. Stalkers may repeatedly send threatening messages to their victims or show up at their homes or workplaces unannounced. They may also put tracking devices on the victims' vehicles or send out cameras to spy on the victims' activities. Some stalkers try to use violence against their victims; this is called deviancy escalation and occurs more often than people realize. Once violence occurs, the chance of law enforcement successfully prosecuting the stalker increases significantly. Certain circumstances must be present for violence to be considered lawful in this situation- for example, the victim must have tried to resist or escape and must have done so with the intent to cause bodily harm to his attacker.
People can take precautions to prevent stalkers from locating them. One precaution involves altering one's physical appearance by wearing different clothes, hair styles or facial expressions whenever possible. It's also important to make sure all one's personal information is up-to-date with one's bank and insurance companies so that no record of them exists under any name. It's also a good idea to contact all of one's friends and family members and let them know where they can find you if they receive a mysterious phone call from an unknown number. Stalkers often send letters to their victims; these may appear harmless at first but may escalate once they receive a response. Therefore, it's important not to respond back to any such letters and to immediately contact law enforcement if such a letter arrives in the mail.
Rescuing a victim from a stalker's cluthes can be time-consuming and dangerous. If law enforcement is contacted immediately after violence has occurred, there's a chance investigators will be able to stop the incident before it gets worse. However, some incidents involving stalking become more violent as time goes on; if this occurs, waiting for law enforcement may put the victim in greater danger because police officers are less likely to respond with lethal force when violence first starts escalating among civilians in movies and television shows. In these cases, it's up to the victim whether he should seek help from authorities or attempt an escape himself if law enforcement becomes involved late enough in the situation.
Stalking can occur at any age but is most common among adults between 18 and 54 years old. People who are experiencing this type of trauma should speak with mental health professionals about their concerns so that authorities can be contacted if necessary. Any message sent by a stalker increases one's likelihood of receiving an unexpected visit that could cost him his life or liberty- so staying informed about potential threats helps everyone living under constant watchful eye of obsessive violence