Stalking

Information regarding experiences of stalking since the age of 15 was obtained from men and women aged 18 years and over in the 2021-22 PSS.

In the PSS, stalking is defined as any unwanted contact or attention which could cause fear or distress. In addition, to be defined as stalking, the unwanted contact or attention had to occur on more than one occasion, or multiple types of unwanted contact or attention had to occur on one occasion only.

The stalking topic consisted of a set of questions about experiences of stalking since the age of 15. The same set of questions was asked separately for stalking by a man and then stalking by a woman.

Respondents were asked if a man or a woman, including both people they know or a stranger, had ever done any of the following things to them, that could have caused them to feel fear or distress. Respondents were instructed to only include incidents where the contact was unwanted.

• Loitered or hung around outside their home.
• Loitered or hung around outside their workplace, school, or education facility.
• Loitered or hung around outside their place of leisure/social activities.
• Followed or watched them in person.
• Followed or watched them using an electronic tracking device (e.g. GPS tracking system, computer spyware).
• Maintained unwanted contact with them by phone, postal mail, email, text messages or social media websites.
• Posted offensive or unwanted messages, images, or personal information on the internet about them.
• Impersonated them online to damage their reputation.
• Hacked or accessed their email, social media, or other online account without their consent to follow or track them.
• Gave or left them objects where they could be found, that were offensive or disturbing.
• Interfered with or damaged any of their property.

The questions that determine if the definition of stalking is met, were repeated up to five times each for male and female perpetrators. The repeats stopped when:

• the definition of stalking was met (at which point the respondent proceeded to the questions regarding the most recent episode of stalking)
• the respondent had not reported an experience that met the definition of stalking and they either identified they had no (or no more) experiences to report or the limit of five repeats was reached.

For the most recent episode of stalking by a man and by a woman since the age of 15, the following information was collected:

• types of stalking behaviours experienced
• relationship to the perpetrator
• method of stalking in the first incident (new data item in 2021-22)
• when the most recent episode of stalking stopped or whether it was still occurring at the time of survey.

If the most recent episode of stalking by a man and by a woman occurred in the last 20 years, further information about the episode was collected, including:

• duration
• whether perceived as a crime at the time
• whether police contacted
• whether perpetrator charged by police
• all reasons police not contacted
• main reason police not contacted
• whether stalker ever assaulted or threatened to assault
• emotional reactions experienced
• areas of life impacted.

If more than one stalker was involved in the most recent episode, respondents were asked to identify who they perceived to be the main perpetrator.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the SPS Level – Stalking tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

Stalking prevalence data can be used to examine:

• the estimated number and proportion (rate) of persons who have experienced stalking by a man and/or woman during the last 12 months and since the age of 15
• differences in the stalking prevalence rate between men and women, and other population groups of interest.

Most recent stalking episode data can be used to examine:

• differences between men’s and women’s experiences of stalking, including stalking behaviours experienced, impacts, actions, and outcomes
• differences between male-perpetrated stalking and female-perpetrated stalking, including stalking behaviours experienced, impacts, actions, and outcomes.

Points to be considered when using and interpreting data for this topic include the following:

• Whether or not any stalking behaviour amounted to a criminal offence cannot be determined from the information collected.
• The PSS only asked respondents about selected stalking behaviours, and therefore may not capture all forms of stalking that exist.
• The recognition and identification of any behaviour as stalking is based on the respondent’s subjective beliefs regarding the perceived intent behind the behaviour. Individual differences in thresholds for what constitutes unwanted contact or attention resulting in fear or distress will affect how respondents answered the questions about stalking.
• In rare instances where more than one person was involved in the stalking episode, respondents were instructed to select the person they perceived to be mainly responsible.
• Characteristics information was only collected for the most recent episode of stalking by a male and the most recent episode of stalking by a female, and is therefore not necessarily representative of all stalking episodes that may have occurred. For example, most recent episode data cannot be used to obtain the total number of people who have reported stalking to the police, as people may not have reported their most recent episode but may have reported other previous episodes. Most recent episode data also cannot be used to obtain prevalence rates for specific perpetrator types, as only information about the perpetrator of the most recent episode was collected.
• When asked about the duration of the stalking episode, if the stalking had stopped and started, respondents were asked to estimate the total time they thought they had been stalked, excluding the period/s when the stalking temporarily ceased.
• Most recent episode data for a male stalker and a female stalker cannot be combined to produce an aggregated total, as this would double count persons who have experienced stalking by both a male and female perpetrator. As a result, most recent episode data can only be output by male stalker and female stalker separately.

When interpreting data from the item ‘Whether most recent male/female stalker assaulted or threatened to assault’, data users should take note of the following:

• Respondents were asked if the stalker had ever assaulted or threatened to assault, without specifying a time period. Consequently, the assault or threat could have occurred at any point and not only during the episode(s) of stalking.
• The definition of assault and threat is broad, and a detailed set of questions/prompt cards were not included when respondents were asked this question. Respondents answered based on their own interpretation of assault/threat.

Information about experiences of stalking was collected in all previous editions of the PSS, as well as the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey (WSS). The following should be noted when making comparisons:

• Analysis of changes over time are not recommended for timeframes that overlap.
• The 1996 WSS and the 2005 and 2012 PSS asked respondents about any experiences of stalking in their entire lifetime. The 2016 and 2021-22 PSS asked respondents about any experiences of stalking since the age of 15.
• The 1996 WSS collected information about the most recent episode of stalking, regardless of when it occurred. All PSS cycles collected information about the most recent episode of stalking only if it occurred in the last 20 years.
• The 1996 WSS only collected information about women’s experiences of stalking by a man. All PSS cycles collected information about men’s and women’s experiences of stalking by both a man and a woman.
• The types of stalking behaviours asked about have expanded over time to accommodate the increasing use of digital technologies as a medium for following and monitoring individuals. The stalking behaviours asked were expanded from 2016 onwards to include emerging communication and surveillance technologies, such as various electronic tracking devices, computer spyware, and tampering with online accounts, such as social media and email. Whilst the core stalking behaviours asked about are consistent across the different surveys, users should remain mindful of the additional stalking behaviours added from 2016 onwards when comparing this data across the time series.