Stalkers turn to cell phones to ‘textually harass’
Stalkers will use any form of media and communication to stalk their victims. Here is another breaking news story about another stalker.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The college student had endured months of online and cell phone harassment from her ex-boyfriend. She ignored the barrage of e-mails, changed her phone number and dismantled online profiles to cut him off.
Then one evening, her cell phone signaled a new text message. It was him again.
“You should keep to yourself and stay away from other people,” the message said, according to the student, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety. Her ex had found her photo online and attached it. - washingtonpost.com
A study of stalking by the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics released last month confirmed that stalking by texting has become a pervasive problem.
The report found 23 percent of stalking or harassment victims reported in 2006 that the stalker had used some form of cyberstalking, such as cell phone texting or e-mail, to harass them. It was the agency’s first measure of the emerging practice, said Katrina Baum, one of the study’s authors.
“Technology has become a quick and easy way for stalkers to monitor and harass their victims,” the report said.
Currently there are only 46 states that have anti-stalking laws which refer to electronic forms of communication, of those, only four of the states use the term “text messaging”. If you are faced with a textual harasser, contact your wireless phone service provider and demand that you not be charged for these unwanted text messages.
