Friday, February 10, 2012

DOJ Report: Technology Helps Stalkers

January 13, 2009

About one in four stalking victims in the United States reported some form of cyber-stalking such as e-mail (83 percent) or instant messaging (35 percent), according to a Justice Department report released Monday. The Bureau of Justice Statistics findings, based on the largest data collection of such behavior to date, also showed that electronic monitoring was used to stalk one in 13 victims and video or digital cameras were equally likely as listening devices or bugs to be used to electronically monitor victims (46 percent and 42 percent). Global positioning system technology comprised about a tenth of the electronic monitoring of stalking victims, officials said.

Overall, an estimated 3.4 million people identified themselves as victims of stalking during a 12-month period in 2005 and 2006. About half of them experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from the offender and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years. The most common types of stalking behaviors were receiving unwanted phone calls from the offender (66 percent), receiving unsolicited letters or e-mail (31 percent), or having rumors spread about them (36 percent). Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their offender in some capacity, and about one-tenth were stalked by a stranger. Read the DOJ report here.

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Juliana Gruenwald

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Juliana Gruenwald has been covering tech and telecom issues for more than a decade for National Journal, Interactive Week, BNA and Congressional Quarterly. This is her second stint with National Journal. She was recruited by NJ in 1998 to help launch its first tech policy publication, Technology Daily. She left in 2000 to cover international tech and telecom issues for Ziff Davis Media's Interactive Week magazine. She started her career at United Press International as the wire service's first Helen Thomas Intern. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. A Minneapolis native, she misses the lakes but not the cold.


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Josh Smith covers technology policy as a staff reporter for National Journal. He previously interned at National Journal Daily, a Senate press office, and the Deseret News in Salt Lake City where he covered the state legislature, courts, and crime. In 2009 he graduated with honors from Southern Utah University after managing an award-winning student newspaper as editor-in-chief. Josh has received state, regional and national awards for his political and policy reporting, including first place in CapitolBeat’s 2009 Best of Statehouse Reporting college competition. A native of drop-dead-gorgeous Utah, Josh lives in Virginia with his wife, Amber.