Cyberstalking and Traditional Stalking: How Technology Has Intensified a National Crisis

A new study from Suzuki Law Offices examines how stalking has evolved in the United States and how the rise of digital communication has expanded the reach and impact of harassment. The findings show that while traditional in‑person stalking remains widespread, cyberstalking has added a new layer of danger that affects millions of people each year. The data illustrates how victims are targeted, how technology is used to monitor and intimidate them, and how the consequences extend into mental health, employment, and financial stability.

The study begins with a national picture of stalking prevalence. According to federal survey data, more than one in five women and nearly one in ten men in the United States have been stalked at some point in their lives. That translates to about 28.8 million women and 11.9 million men. During the year before the survey, one in twenty women and one in thirty three men reported being stalked. These figures show that stalking is not a rare or isolated problem. It is a widespread public safety issue that affects people across age groups, states, and communities.

How Stalking Manifests for Women

The study outlines the specific behaviors that make up stalking and shows how frequently victims experience each one. For women, the most common forms of stalking involve direct observation and unwanted approaches.

Key findings for female victims include:

• Followed, watched, or spied on: 78.3 percent
• Approached at home, work, or school without consent: 74.2 percent
• Received unwanted calls, messages, emails, or texts: 69.2 percent
• Felt afraid or concerned for their safety or the safety of others: 98.7 percent
• Threatened with physical harm: 52.4 percent
• Experienced significant mental or emotional effects: 85.2 percent

The study also highlights how technology is used against women:

• Received unwanted attention through social media: 46.8 percent
• Had communication or location monitored through social media: 36.3 percent
• Received unwanted cards, letters, flowers, or gifts: 37.3 percent
• Had a stalker enter their home or car: 43.1 percent
• Tracked with GPS technology: 15.6 percent
• Monitored through software, apps, or stalkerware: 20.1 percent
• Observed through hidden cameras: 12.6 percent

These numbers show that stalking is rarely a single behavior. It is a pattern of repeated and escalating actions that often combine physical presence with digital intrusion.

How Stalking Manifests for Men

Male victims report similar experiences, although some behaviors occur at different rates. The study notes that men are also followed, monitored, and contacted through multiple channels.

Key findings for male victims include:

• Followed, watched, or spied on: 75.9 percent
• Approached at home, work, or school without consent: 63.9 percent
• Received unwanted calls, messages, emails, or texts: 69.1 percent
• Received unwanted messages through social media: 53.9 percent
• Had communication or location monitored through social media: 43.8 percent
• Received unwanted cards, letters, flowers, or gifts: 26.0 percent
• Had a stalker enter their home or car: 45.7 percent

Additional data points for men show:

• Tracked with GPS technology: 29.3 percent
• Monitored through software, apps, or stalkerware: 25.0 percent
• Observed through hidden cameras: 19.5 percent
• Felt afraid for their safety or the safety of others: 91.4 percent
• Threatened with physical harm: 63.8 percent
• Experienced serious mental or emotional consequences: 71.6 percent

The data suggests that while men and women experience many of the same behaviors, men report higher rates of GPS tracking and hidden camera surveillance.

The Financial and Career Toll

Stalking does not only affect personal safety. It also disrupts victims’ careers and financial stability. The study cites national estimates showing that workdays lost due to intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking cost about 137.8 billion dollars over victims’ lifetimes.

Additional findings include:

• Seventeen percent of stalking victims lose a job or job opportunity.
• One in eight victims lose time from work because of stalking.
• More than half of those who lose work time miss at least five days.
• One in seven victims move to escape their stalker, often affecting employment.

Mental health effects such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction also interfere with job performance. Among cyberstalking victims specifically, 48 percent report negative work consequences, and nearly one in five report a workplace accident or near miss due to stress and distraction.

How Stalkers Use Work Resources

The study shows that stalking often extends into the workplace. Many stalkers use their own work time or their victim’s workplace as part of their harassment.

Key findings include:

• Sixty four percent of stalkers pursue their victims at least once per week.
• Seventy eight percent use more than one stalking tactic.
• Intimate partner stalkers are the most likely to threaten or harm victims.
• Seventy eight percent of violent intimate partner stalkers use workplace resources to monitor or pressure victims.
• Seventy four percent have easy access to the victim’s workplace.
• Twenty one percent violate no contact orders by contacting victims at work.
• Forty two percent are late to work due to stalking activities.
• Twenty five percent visit the victim’s home while on the clock.

These behaviors create safety risks not only for victims but also for coworkers and employers.

Workplace Policies and Support

Despite the prevalence of workplace related stalking, only 31 percent of surveyed workplaces have a formal stalking policy. More than half of workplaces without a policy have no plans to create one. Fourteen percent plan to introduce a policy within a year.

Victims report mixed experiences with workplace support. Positive experiences include being listened to, having supervisors take concerns seriously, and receiving structured support through meetings and safety planning. Negative experiences include being blamed, having fears dismissed, and being left to manage the situation alone.

The Rise of Cyberstalking

The study identifies cyberstalking as a major factor that has intensified the overall problem. About 7.5 million people in the United States are victims of cyberstalking each year. The average victim is 44 years old, and women make up about 73 percent of victims.

Key findings include:

• Only 11 percent of cyberstalking incidents are reported to law enforcement.
• Fifty five percent of victims believe law enforcement does not take the issue seriously.
• Twenty five percent find law enforcement intervention unsatisfactory.
• Forty one percent say intervention does not deter the stalker.
• Forty five percent feel very or extremely distressed.
• Fifty four percent of cyberstalkers are acquaintances or former partners.
• Thirty two percent of victims receive threatening messages.
• A typical cyberstalking incident lasts more than six months and often up to two years.

The study also shows how heavily cyberstalking relies on digital platforms:

• Social media is involved in 78 percent of cases.
• Sixty percent of victims stop using social media because of harassment.
• Fifty five percent receive repeated unwanted messages or emails.
• Eighty three percent of cyberstalkers use multiple online platforms.
• About 85 percent of cases involve online monitoring or tracking.
• Fourteen percent of victims have their accounts hacked.

The estimated economic cost of cyberstalking in the United States exceeds 1.3 billion dollars each year.

Summary Table: Traditional Stalking vs Cyberstalking

A Growing Public Safety Challenge

The study from Suzuki Law Offices shows that cyberstalking has not replaced traditional stalking. Instead, it has expanded the ways in which victims can be targeted. Technology allows stalkers to monitor, contact, and intimidate victims at all hours and from any location. The combination of physical and digital harassment creates a level of intrusion that is difficult to escape.