January is National Stalking Awareness Month. This is an annual call to action to recognize and respond to the serious crime of stalking.
In the US, an estimated 13.5 million people are stalked in a
one-year period in the United States, and approximately one in three women and one in six men have experienced stalking victimization at some point in their lifetime.
Victims Advocates Brittany Hamilton and Charlie Falkis from the Sheridan Advocacy and Resource Center made an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse to bring awareness to a problem that has only evolved with the advent of technology.
C. Falkis
Hamilton said stalking by definition is a pattern of behavior directed at a person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others in their lives.
Cellular devices have made lives covenant, with apps that allow parents to know the locations of their children and friends the ability to meet each other at various locations. But those apps can also work against a victim of stalking. Cell phones can be hacked and applications can be added and hidden from the user.
B. Hamilton
The Federal Trade Commission has created a page on their website that lists steps and techniques to protect your mobile device from tampering and becoming a tool that can be used against a stalking victim.
Find that page here.
This post was originally published on here
