(This is a short version of 30 pages.)

  Introduction.

I am working with the Police Department Groningen/Haren, precinct Center.
In the last year I noticed that there was an increase in 'Stalking' cases:

Stalking is the deliberate, willingly and knowingly, repeatedly pursuing and harassing of a person, in such a way that this person is in fear for his or her own safety.

When I started to deepen into this subject it turned out that this, at least for the Dutch police, was a fallow field. That is as far as I could examine.

Motivation for writing this piece wasn't only the idea that this 'Stalking problem' is increasing. Direct cause and personal motivation was a homocide and suicide in the Almastraat in Groningen. A well known stalker murdered his former girl friend and then killed himself. The perpetrator announced his intention months before, but police intervention to prevent this wasn't possible, and police nor social work, nor psychiatrists proved to have possibilities to prevent this pointless murder and suicide.

The primary problem with which stalking victims have to deal with is that they're finding themselves in an unsafe situation, in which they can hardly ever expect help from the police. Besides that, lack of information and lack of understanding in the behavior of stalkers, as well as lack of effective strategies to oppose to the stalking, form great problems. The lacking of legislation only makes it more difficult. Victims also have to struggle with actual prejudgments like ''It's her own fault, She can't say no, maybe she wants him back, she wants attention", or; It only happens to woman who can't stand up for them selves".

The social position of the target group is very divers. Victims of stalking come from all kinds of population. The only common characteristic is that most victims are woman and are mostly younger than 40 years of age. So the underlying causes can't be find by the victim self, or it has to be that women still are vulnerable just because of their sex which is putting them at a disadvantage. Underlying causes therefor must be found by the perpetrator. That's the reason why the accent is more emphasized on the stalker, than on the victim. To help the victims in a better way one should know more about their perpetrators. Finally the problem is on them. The target group of stalking perpetrators requires a specific approach. Because in the Netherlands this approach is hardly in operation, in fact every one who has to deal with stalking-victims, is doing this his/her own way, I refer to chapter 5 'Threat assessment', in which the American approach is described.

Dutch legislation regarding stalking is still absent. D'66 (a Dutch political Party) is preparing a preface law now. In the meantime the police can only intervene when a crime is committed. But often it handles about non-punishable facts. In general one has to wait until the Stalking has escalated, which often won't take place cause mostly the annoying behavior of the stalker will expire in the end. In case of stalking behavior that is continuing for years, the police is powerless against this and doesn't have much to offer to the victim.
The only bill on which they can appeal is art. 426bis, code of criminal law;

"He who in public is unauthorized obstructing another person in his/her freedom, or who is with one or more persons forcing upon another person against his or her specific stated will or keeps on tailing him/her in a disturbing way, will be punished with a month detention at most or with a fine of the second category".

This article of law is hardly ever used in the case of stalking. Usually the victims feel consequently run out on them by the police. The same powerlessness came over me, so upon that I went looking for information.

A single time a current affairs program pays attention to this subject, and so now and then articles in newspapers show up. In the Netherlands there are two organizations who are engaged in stalking. The 'Stichting Stop Stalking' and the 'Stichting Anti Stalking'. Of both foundations I received brief information. After a broadcast from 'Netwerk', a television program, about a stalking project of the Region Police of Rotterdam, Rijnmond in may 1997, I send them an email asking for more information. This because from the broadcast it showed that they started a stalking project in June 1996 in co-operation with the Woman's health Center Sara. However they replied to me with a counter question, namely if I had more information for them so they could place this on their Internetsite.
Up to here the Dutch situation. It is possible that there is more Dutch knowledge and information available, but that I couldn't find this. The communication between the Police Departments isn't functioning optimally. This is also because not all regions do have a web site on the Internet and because of the irregular working times so not all persons concerned are accessible.

However on the American part of Internet I, to my astonishment, was overwhelmed with information on the subject of stalking. Especially in the U.S. as it turns out, a lot of attention is focused towards this problem. On Dutch web sites I couldn't find anything about stalking, and in libraries entirely nothing at all. In comparison, the number of stalkers in the U.S. is far more as it is in the Netherlands and the number of cases with a serious outcome are alarming. Because in the U.S. one deals with this problem longer than in the Netherlands, one started much sooner to develop and implement new laws and preventive methods. The information I found was downloaded from American web sites. In particular the web sites of:

.(The links are placed under the header of each chapter, clickable links are on the The Link Page.)

National Department of Justice,
Los Angeles Police Department "Threat Management Unit" (Stalking Squad),
Metropolitan Nashville Police Department,
New York Police Department,
het National Institute of justice,
Bureau of Justice Assistance,
The National Criminal Justice Association,
National Victim Center,

and from web sites of victims.

It seemed useful to me to download and translate this information, especially the "Threat Assessment Program" could be of use for the Dutch police.

The articles are translated, and edited by me.
The Introduction is written by me.

Corna Dirks, June 1997.