Crime stat: 1 in 12 Women are Stalked, Few Believe It

[Ed Ziomek]

It has just come to my attention the astonishing news that one in every 12 women are stalked, and very few people believe it.

New article:

"Stalking has become one of the most dreaded crimes against women in recent years. According to a 2000 study conducted by the federal Department of Justice, one woman in 12 will be stalked during her lifetime. This figure is startling when compared to the fact that 1 in 3,000 will be raped, based on current FBI statistics. Many women know their stalker personally and as a result, are hesitant to believe the situation is potentially dangerous. Being aware of these alarming signals can help you determine if you are being stalked and what to do about it."

Lifescript.com
http://www.lifescript.com/Soul/Self/Growth/10_Signs_That_You_Are_Being_Stalked.aspx?trans=1&du=1&gclid=COutoZC27ZYCFRoSFQodcA2Iqw&ef_id=1350:3:c_a3674c6ebf00c80cad3e0f105d5b869e_744269285:YkUJ-ko-JyoAAF1@9kkAAAAO:20081111151755

Japan Form of Crime, Getting Larger?
What is even more frightening is that gang-stalking, an organized concerted effort to humiliate, intimidate, do violence against, and/or disparage reputations, is apparently a new form of crime in Japan.

The closest event I have heard in America for group-stalking was high schoolers ostracizing and marginalizing certain individuals, call it gang-bullying, "Jocks versus Nerds", for which there have been recent understanding and counter efforts. There also have been Police harrassment issues in this area, against persons considered undesirable for the community.

Rapes, Suicides and homicides HAVE resulted in several instances.

What cured historical gang-stalking efforts in Sicily and Colombia for examples, were vigilante and secret sociey groups who fought back violently, one offender at a time.

As for stalking in particular, Vigilance, Understanding, Confrontation, and Publication, that is the cure to me if/when it occurs!

Note: I suppose on the international scale, the terrorist threats made by killers against mass groups of innocent individuals, are just a more sinister form of bully-gang-stalking, even if under the ruse of "religious belief".

C? Say! See Something? Say Something! Fight back!

[Richard Haut]

[Ed Ziomek]

Thinking on this issue a few days, and I may have come up with some solutions architects and designers can implement.

1. Awareness of the problem, that is number one. Publicize the abuse, let people know who are the stalkers, who are the abuses, what is being said, directly or indirectly.

2. Is there any dark space in America, where a person (male/female) is safe to walk at 2 O'clock in the morning? I tend to believe this is a major issue.
Solution... Lighting, cameras, emergency alarm buttons. This pertains across all social spectrums, for fire emergencies, for safety emergencies, for personal emergencies, architects and designers can mandate a standard for open space safety alarms and monitoring.

3. Education process: If it hasn't been done already, possibly some group (or many groups) should monitor how the media advertising or movies or television might glorify or sensationalize the stalking, bullying, and harrassment attacks of one person against another person.

4. We need more integrity in this country, in our governing officials, in our adult leaders, in our judicial system, in our religious officials, and certainly in ourselves. Silence is also a crime.

See Something, Say something.

[Richard Haut]

Ed

it is a problem that seems to have been growing for a few decades.

I remember being at a dinner long ago at which a woman was very angry with a town planner who had been involved in one of the post WWII British new towns. How could he have been so stupid as to have cycle and walkways that went along rivers and by woods ? The planner tried to explain that it had never occurred to his generation that one day there would be the risk of a crazy behind every bush (if one can use the terms 'crazy' and 'bush' in the same sentence).

there is a lesson to learn from France: in France if one sees someone being attacked/aggressed you have to intervene or get arrested yourself. No question. The crime is called 'leaving a person in danger'.

OK it does not work perfectly, but it gives an attitude of being involved - and being expected to be involved.

in Britain those who intervene are 1. seen as fools, and 2. rarely helped by anyone else.

yes, it is a question of integrity.