Nellis launches community stalking awareness campaign Published Jan. 7, 2015 By Heather Stiawalt 99th Medical Operations Squadron NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- January is National Stalking Awareness Month, a time to focus on a crime that affects 7.5 million victims every year. This year's theme, "Stalking: Know it. Name it. Stop it," challenges the nation, and the Airmen of Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases, to fight this dangerous crime by learning more about it. Stalking is a crime in all 50 states, the U.S. Territories and the District of Columbia, yet many victims and criminal justice professionals may underestimate its seriousness and impact. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics and American Journal of Public Health, stalkers use weapons to harm or threaten one in every five victims, and stalking is one of the significant risk factors for femicide [homicide of women] in abusive relationships. Victims suffer anxiety, social dysfunction and severe depression at much higher rates than the general population, and many lose time from work or have to move as a result of their victimization. Stalking is difficult to recognize, investigate and prosecute. Unlike other crimes, stalking is not a single, easily identifiable crime but a series of acts, a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause that person fear. Stalking may take many forms, such as assaults, threats, vandalism, burglary or animal abuse, as well as unwanted cards, calls, gifts or visits. One in four victims reports that the stalker uses technology, such as computers, global positioning system devices or hidden cameras, to track the victim's daily activities. Stalkers fit no standard psychological profile, and many stalkers follow their victims from one jurisdiction to another, making it difficult for authorities to investigate and prosecute their crimes. Communities that understand stalking, however, can support victims and combat the crime. "If more people learn to recognize stalking, we have a better chance to protect victims and prevent tragedies," said D.J. Seidlinger, 99th Medical Operations Squadron domestic abuse victim advocate. The Family Advocacy Program will offer a live informational booth at the Exchange Jan. 15 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to promote awareness and public education about stalking during the annual observance. For more information, please contact the Family Advocacy Program at 702-653-3880. For additional resources to help promote National Stalking Awareness Month, please visit http://stalkingawarenessmonth.org or www.ovw.usdoj.gov.
