Online and offline stalking victimisation in the Crime Survey for England and Wales
Stalking is a global phenomenon described as a pattern of repeated, intrusive behaviours that cause fear, alarm, and distress in the victim/survivor. Over the past two decades, offline stalking, a repeated pattern of behaviours such as physically following a person, which causes fear and distress, has been complemented through online and digital means also known as cyberstalking. Cyberstalking includes the use of the internet, email, and/or systems such as geo-location trackers to further the perpetrators’ reach and amplify the feelings of harassment experienced by a victim/survivor.
Technology-facilitated harassment is increasingly common, but there is a lack of longitudinal analysis quantifying cyberstalking and its impact on victim/survivors. To address this empirical evidence-based gap, VISION researchers Drs Madeleine Janickyj and Leonie Tanczer at University College of London and Dr Niels Blom at University of Manchester, examined Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) data from the years 2012 to 2020 to provide the first nationally representative look at cyberstalking over the last decade. Their paper, Online and Offline Stalking Victimisation in the Crime Survey for England and Wales: Its Predictors and Victim/Survivors’ Views on Criminalisation, assesses which demographic groups are most likely to experience it across two countries of the United Kingdom (UK; for example, England and Wales) and also explores how these experiences affect the perception of the victim/survivors.
The analysis, involving weighted and multinomial logistic regression, revealed considerable differences between online and offline stalking behaviours. Cyberstalking is not as widespread, but is increasing in prevalence faster than its offline counterpart.
The researchers also assessed the relationship between perpetrators and victim/survivors and found that less than 50 per cent of cyberstalking victim/survivors had an existing relationship with their stalker. Moreover, various demographic groups, such as females, the LGB community, and younger participants, are more likely to be stalked via both online and offline means. While females are more likely to view what happened to them as a crime, the latter two (LGB and younger participants) more often perceive these experiences as wrong but not necessarily a crime. Although these experiences increasingly affect participants, they do not alter their perception of the event in the same way, exposing that these online experiences are thought of differently from those offline.
Recommendation
To further the analyses of cyber-enabled and cyberstalking, some adjustments could be made to the existing stalking experiences that participants are asked about. One current question merges receiving cards, letters, or text messages, combining online and offline experiences. Separating this item into two questions would give more accurate data regarding cyberstalking.
To cite: Madeleine Janickyj, Niels Blom, Leonie Maria Tanczer, Online and Offline Stalking Victimisation in the Crime Survey for England and Wales: Its Predictors and Victim/Survivors’ Views on Criminalisation, The British Journal of Criminology, 2025;, azaf064, https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaf064
For further information, please contact Maddy at m.janickyj@ucl.ac.uk
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