The use of technology in stalking victims

Abstract

Technology has brought many advantages to the human being. However, the issue is that not everyone makes use of technology in the same manner. These past two decades, the crime of stalking has been drastically increasing, especially since technology made its drastic improvements (Brown, 2015). In fact, eventually, conventional stalking has by time led to cyber-based stalking. This study aims to point out the main types of technologies used by perpetrators to stalk their victims, and what is their motivation to do so. It is quite clear that technological devices are easy and cheap to obtain. Nonetheless, this research seeks to point out the effect left on the victims. To provide more insight, five professionals working with victims and offenders of conventional and cyber-based stalking were interviewed. Core discussion focused on understanding the technologies used to commit such crime and the difficulties encountered to investigate it. This research suggests that mobile phones, social networking and tracking devices are the most frequent tools used by stalkers. Moreover, the most common victims of stalking are ought to be women and they are normally stalked by an intimate or ex-partner, or an individual whom the victim previously had any kind of relationship or contact with. The perpetrators find technology as the ideal tool for anonymity and power. This study further looks at the negative effects left on the victims which are mainly psychologically and also physically. Lastly, this research shows how tiresome it is to issue evidence for cyberstalking cases “beyond a reasonable doubt”, especially to identify if it is actually a crime and mainly, who is actually behind the crime.