Statistics
Statistics on stalking are limited, principally because the cases wind up being classified as the crime into which they usually escalate, such as assault or homicide. Here's what we know:

• million people are stalked each year
  
• 8 % of America’s women – and 2 percent of the nation’s men – are or will become stalking victims
  
• 75 % of all reported domestic assaults are committed after the couple has separated
  
• 90 % of the 1,500 women killed by their current or former mates each year in the United States were stalked before being murdered
  
• Murder is the leading cause of death for American women in the workplace, and the third leading cause of occupational death for both sexes
  
• 150,000 people in the United States are pursuing unwarranted and inappropriate contact with media figures
  
• With the right information, you can safely handle stalking situations. Better yet, you can find out how to never become a victim at all.

America has been hit with an escalating crisis that it doesn’t know how to handle – and the problem is getting worse. In 1994, experts estimated that 400,000 Americans were stalked each year. Less than five years later, that figure has more than tripled to 1.4 million, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. All too often, however, these victims are reluctant to take responsibility for their own safety. Instead, they assume that the police can protect them and make their stalking situation disappear. Tragically, when they do take action, their natural reactions aggravate the problem and increase the likelihood of violence.

Stalkers don’t just prey on their individual targets. In cases involving family units, children frequently wind up as the victims. Obsessed pursuers will frequently harass a third party to whom the actual target is attached in order to gain the intense impact and reaction they seek. "The easiest way to get to me is to get to the people I love," said one stalking victim.

We urge you to read Linden Gross’ life-saving book Surviving a Stalker: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe (Marlowe, 2000), which is available at your favorite bookstore. This ground-breaking report will provide you and your loved ones with the tools you need to handle inappropriate obsessive attention. You’ll discover how to control your natural reactions – which put you at a disadvantage, and how to stop feeding the obsessive interaction that perpetuates stalking situations. You’ll discover how to protect your privacy and safety, as well as that of your loved ones. And you’ll discover how the law enforcement, legal, judicial and mental health arenas need to change in order to better serve victims of this insidious crime.