• One in 6 women (16.2%) and 1 in 19 men (5.2%) in the United States have experienced stalking victimization at some point during their lifetime in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed.

*source:  The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), 2010 

• Stalking can happen to anyone regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnic or economic background.
• A stalker isn't always a stranger. The stalker may be a current or former intimate partner, a friend, customer, coworker, or an acquaintance. 77% of female victims and 64% of male victims know their stalkers.
• Stalkers are often obsessed with their victims. A stalker may monitor a victim's actions including her/his whereabouts, conversations with other people, and internet and email usage. The stalker's motivation typically is to gain and maintain control over the victim. Some individuals may use stalking as a way to try to re-establish a former intimate relationship or to feel connected to a person with whom they do not and/or cannot have a relationship.
  

According to RSA 633:3-a it is against the law for someone to:

• Purposely, knowingly, or recklessly engage in a course of conduct targeted at a specific person which would cause a reasonable person to fear for his or her personal safety or the safety of a member of that person's immediate family, and that person is placed in fear;
• Purposely or knowingly engage in a course of conduct that the actor knows will place an individual and/or that person's immediate family member in fear for personal safety;
• Commit a single act of conduct that both violates the provisions of a protection order, divorce decree, or bail conditions, that prohibits contact with the individual and is an act of conduct, as defined below. The person must have been served or given notice of the protective order filed against him/her.
• Course of conduct refers to 2 or more acts that occur over a period of time, however short, that show evidence of a pattern of behavior. This includes any of the following acts against a person or her/his immediate family member.
  

• Threatening safety. Following, approaching, or confronting the targeted person.
• Appearing with no legitimate purpose at or around a place where a person can be found, including a residence, workplace, or school.
• Causing damage to property
• Placing an object on the person's property, either directly or through a third person
• Causing an injury to a family pet
• Acts of communication that are harassing to the individual e.g. letters, packages, electronic transmissions, etc.
Engaging in acts which would constitute stalking after having been advised by a law enforcement officer that the person?s acts were in violation of the stalking statute.

    •    Support and information is available in person and through a 24-hour hotline
    •    Accompaniment, support, and advocacy at local hospitals, courts, and police departments
    •    Assistance with protective orders and referrals to legal services
    •    Peer support groups
    •    Access to emergency shelter
    •    Information and referrals to community programs
    •    Community and professional outreach and education

Click here to locate your nearest crisis center or you can call either of the statewide hotline numbers:

• Domestic Violence - 1-866-644-3574
• Sexual Assault - 1-800-277-5570