Safety 101: STALKING

January is National Stalking Awareness Month.

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In recognition of her upcoming release ~ TELL ME WHEN, about a college freshman who struggles with the aftermath of being stalked and kidnapped during her senior year of high school ~ NA Author Stina Lindenblatt has organized a blog hop to shed light on this serious life issue. When I was in high school, the idea of stalking was in its infancy. It was misunderstood and mislabeled. If you were a girl and a boy was paying you that much attention, then you must have done something to encourage it. Thank goodness that theory slowly changed as more stalking cases became public. But then the internet was born, and stalkers gained a new arena to spread fear and control over their victims ~ cyber-stalking.  Stalking can be in the form of unwanted attention - such as frequent emails, cards, gifts, phone calls, or finding that person watching your house or place of work. It can start out violently or with vandalism or can start more slowly, eventually escalating to those.
Here are a few safety keys I've collected for dealing with stalking or cyber-stalking. General Stalking:

1. Be aware of your surroundings.
2. Stop all contact and communications with the person harassing you.
3. After you've stopped all contact, it's still stalking if that person contacts your friends or family. Give your friends/family the okay to either tell that person to leave you alone or make you aware of the incident.
4. Do not respond to the stalkers advancements or acts. That will usually encourage more unwanted attention.
5. Record any incident you feel is related to a stalker issue.

Cyber-Stalking:

1. Do not share personal information online.
2. Avoid answering online questionnaires.
3. Designate a separate email for registering on online sites. Do not use this one for personal or business related dealings.
4. Many sites occasionally change their information sharing policies. Check often and make the appropriate changes to protect yourself.
5. Use caution when sharing intimate details with online friendships. Mostly, avoid doing so, unless you are sure the person is who they say they are. AND checking their sites doesn't necessarily mean that you are now sure of their identity. Anyone can create a false profile. Anyone.

Above all these for both stalking incidents, share any suspicious activity with someone you can trust. If, after you've broken all ties with said stalker and the behavior does not stop, contact the authorities. DO NOT WAIT. 

I want to thank Stina for having the courage to write a story like this and for bringing its seriousness to the forefront. One of the suggestions for this blog hop was to share a personal experience. I've had one, but it involved my best friend - actually, it's more her story than mine. So I chose not to share it. Just know that it can be very serious and it's not something to mess around with.

AND if you haven't done so already, feel free to take my writer's pledge for 2014. Just go HERE or click on the badge in my right sidebar to signup! LUV to have you.
What are your thoughts about safety when it comes to receiving unwanted behavior from another person?