Introduction

The past decade has seen an intensification of curiosity and concern relating to stalkers and their activities, but interest in the victims of stalking is a relatively recent development. Much common knowledge of victims was gleaned initially from media reports of celebrities and other public figures who had fallen prey to crazed fans or resentful constituents (see Dietz et al., 1991a,b; de Becker, 1997) and it was generally thought that such activities rarely involved ordinary citizens. In recent times researchers and legislators, recognizing major shortcomings in our understanding of stalking behaviours and their management, have focussed their attention upon stalking victims as a source of data that is not necessarily reflected in official records or in studies of perpetrators (Hall, 1998).

As a consequence of systematic enquiry into victims' experiences many earlier notions about stalkers and those they target are being revised. Victims of stalking certainly exist in the wider community and are not a rarity (some authorities believing that this crime has already reached epidemic proportions), nor can any citizen claim immunity from a stalker's unwanted attentions by virtue of gender, age, socioeconomic status, occupation or cultural background, although there is little doubt that some, such as celebrities, are at greater risk than others.