Last Friday (24/2/12) our Digital Cultures lecture was hosted by Dr. Emma Short, a world leading researcher in Cyberstalking. The behaviour, facts and figures behind the people who stalk and who are being stalked was staggering, with little left to the imagination.
The research that had been collected concluded that 32% of people who are cyberstalked develop a mental illness called "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder", a illness which your brain regurgitates and relives the fear and emotions felt during the worst part of your ordeal. As a sense of psychological trauma, it's an illness synonymous with ex-army veterans, bomb disposal workers and rape victms. However, cyberstalking fit in amongst the aforementioned when it came to the % of sufferers affected.
Cyberstalking has a subtle difference to cyber bullying, stalking being the means of "mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom he has no relationship". Cyber Bullying on the other hand is often seen between younger ages, seen in social media. Cyberstalking has the aspect of sheer anonymity and is often regarded as adult-on-adult, with the tendency of their interest being that of a more sexual one.
Dr. Short's research also showed that 40% of victims were males, a surprise as the stereotypical idea of abuse online is that it's usually directed at women. Another quashed stereotype was that former partners would be the stalkers, yet when asked, respondents answered that only 4% of people's attackers was an ex-partner.
Most victims were aged between 20-39, with ages ranging from 14-74. Teenagers said that social websites were the primary sites that could provide and provoke cyberstalking, pondering the idea of whether social media needs to be censored.
Using examples from the study, their was the story of one woman who was subject to a torrent of vivid images, glorifying and showing violent rape. Another story was of a teacher who was accused of meeting someone through a child pornography site. This saga went on for years, and the attacker or the reasoning was never discovered.
Guardian article on Dr.Short's research
A severe case of cyberstalking was displayed in 2003. Two friends, addicted to internet chatrooms were seduced into the world of secrecy. One was so enticed he began obeying and carrying out commands by the woman he was talking to online. He carries out the plan set by this 'secret agent' to kill his friend.
After being arrested, the courtroom would later learn that the the various people he was talking too were all one person attempting to manipulate his every move. Yet the real twist is that that one person turned out to be his friend, whom he's attempted to kill.
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/kill-me-if-you-can/
Cyberstalking is a global issue, in which their are serious reprecussions not only for the attacker, but the victim aswell.
The British Crime Survey estimated 5 million people were victims of cyber abuse.
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