Title IX Education: January is National Stalking Awareness Month

As January is National Stalking Awareness Month, the Webster University Title IX Office seeks to educate our campus community on the issues of stalking, including promoting awareness and prevention.  Throughout the month, please take the time to learn more about warning signs, reporting options, and how to help. Individuals are classified as stalking victims if they experienced at least one concerning behavior on at least two separate occasions.  

Stalking is a serious, prevalent, and dangerous crime that impacts every community in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women defines stalking as “engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his, her, or their safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional duress.”  

According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 

• Stalking is common. About one in six women and one in 17 men have experienced stalking in their lifetimes. 
• Stalking starts early. Nearly 54 percent of female victims and 41 percent of male victims experienced stalking before the age of 25. 
• Stalking impacts the physical and mental health of victims. Research shows stalking can lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. About 68 percent of female and 70 percent of male victims experienced threats of physical harm during their lifetime. 

(Source: cdc.gov/injury/features/prevent-stalking)

Awareness Video & National Resources

Don’t have a lot of time to read? Watch this short three-minute news report on stalking awareness.

Concerning Behaviors

1. Unexpectedly (and repeatedly) approaches you on and off campus: at the movies/play, out to coffee with your friends, at a party.  
2. Brings unwanted flowers to every concert or play that you’re in, leaves multiple “good luck” and “congratulations” notes on your dorm room door.  
3. Takes your phone and reads your texts, emails, and incoming chats.  
4. Steals things like your textbooks and jacket so that you have to go ask for them back.  
5. Transfers classes to be in yours.  
6. Sends multiple unwanted texts a day to check in, regardless of whether or not you respond.  
7. Finds embarrassing information about you online and shares it with others.  
8. Frequently watches where you go – in the cafeteria, between classes, in the library.  
9. Hacks into your Instagram account and pretends to be you.  
10. Tries to be friends with your friends and roommates without invitation. 

(Source: stalkingawareness.org)

How the University Defines Stalking

Webster University defines stalking as “engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to (A) fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or (B) suffer substantial emotional distress.” See 34 U.S.C. § 12291(a)(30). Interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or the Title IX Regulations, or because the individual has made a report or complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under such regulations. 

Help on Campus

If you or a person you know has been a victim of stalking, please contact the Title IX Office at titleix@webster.edu, or stop by the offices located 200 Hazel Avenue (the gray house across from the Webster Village Apartments). 

Kimberley Pert, Title IX coordinator/interim head of the Title IX Office 

Pertk61@webster.edu or (314)246-7780 

 

Lori J. Watson, deputy Title IX coordinator 

loriwatson@webster.edu or (314)246-7951 

Webster University’s Title IX Office wants to ensure the safety of its students. If any student or university employee feels unsafe on campus, please go to the Public Safety Office or call (314) 968-6911.  

Additionally, confidential reports may be made to a counselor in Student Counseling and Life Development located at 540 Garden Avenue; call the Counseling and Life Development office at (314) 968-7030; or e-mail counselingld@webster.edu (non-confidential). 

If a situation is immediately life-threatening, always call 911.