What is it?

Cyberstalking is the electronic manifestation of physical stalking. It can be manifested through harassing e-mails, impersonating someone online, creating hate websites, posting harassing messages on message boards or abusive behaviour in chat rooms.

What You Need to Remember

As in the case physical stalking, the victim of cyberstalking is notresponsible for the actions of the perpetrator.  Much of the literature about cyberstalking offers tips on howto avoid being stalked.  This type of advice, although often well-meaning and helpful suggests that women are somehow to blame for the harassing behaviour of others.  It is important to remember that breaking up with a partner,engaging in online flirtation or not being ‘cybersmart’ is NOTan invitation for abuse.   

Safety Tips

The following are tips used with permission from Working to Halt Abuse On-line (W.H.O.A.). The mission of W.H.O.A. is to educate the Internet community about on-line harassment, empower victims of harassment and formulate voluntary policies that systems can adopt in order to create harassment-free environments online for everyone.

W.H.O.A. fully supports the right to free speech online and off, but asserts that free speech is not protected when it involves threats to the emotional or physical safety of anyone. You can read more about W.H.O.A. at www.haltabuse.org. 

Always select a gender-neutral username for your e-mail address or for chat, etc. DON'T pick something cute, such as misskitty@aol.com or use your first name if it is obviously female. Since the majority of online victims are female, this is what harassers look for. Also, be cautious of using your first and last name as your user name. If you are listed in the phone book, having a user name such as firstname.lastname@hotmail.commakes you an easy target. 

Keep your primary e-mail address private.Use your primary e-mail address ONLY for people you know and trust. Get a free email account through some place like Hotmail, Juno or Yahoo! and use that for all your other on-line activity. Make sure you select a gender-neutral username that is nothing like anything you've had before.

DON'T fill out profiles! When you sign up for your e-mail account, whether it's through your ISP (Internet safety providersuch as AOL or Compuserve) or a free one (such as Yahoo!), fill out as little information about yourself as possible. You do NOT need to fill out everything they ask for. When you hit the submit button, you will be told what informationis absolutely necessary to get your account opened. The same goes for profiles in IM (Instant Messenger) programs such as ICQ or AOLs IM and chat rooms. Never, ever fill out your profiles, unless you want the whole world to know everything about you.  

DO block or ignore unwanted users. Whether you are in a chat room or using IM, you should always check out what options/preferences are available to you and take advantage of the "Blockall users except those on my buddy list" or add unwanted usernames to an Ignore list in chat. If anyone bothers you and won't go away, put them on block or ignore!  

DON'T defend yourself.Yes, this is the most common reaction when someone begins to bother you online.Most people naturally want to defend themselves, but a reaction from you is just what the harasser wants. He or she is "fishing" for someone to latch onto and harass. When you reply to them, whether in a chat room, via IM, e-mail, in newsgroups, message boards or anywhere else online, you're letting them know you're upset. That's exactly what they want - bait and you've become it. No matter how hard it is to do, ignore these people. When they realize they can't bother you, they'll go on to the next chat room, newsgroup, etc and try to find another "fish."  

Lurk:Read messages and don't respond or post any on newsgroups, message boards, mailing lists, chat rooms, etc. before "speaking" or posting messages. 

Watch what you "say" online.When you do participate online, be careful--only type what you would say to someone's face. If you wouldn't say it to a stranger standing next to you in an elevator, why in the world would you "say" it online? 

SignatureFiles. If you use a signature file (a short attachment or textual message composed by the e-mail user that common includes name, name of organization, job title, address as well as telephone and fax numbers) make sure you know what information is in there. Check to be sure you're not giving out your full name, address and phone number. If you must have some or all of that information, see the advice below.  

Get a free fax/voicemail number. If you absolutely must have a contact phone number anywhere on-line, whether on a website, in your signature file or in your profile (remember what we said about profiles!), get a free fax/voicemail number from someplace like eFax. It's easy to register, you get a free number and can then post it on your web site, sig file, etc. If someone calls, they'll get a pre-recorded message stating you are unavailable and they can leave a voicemail message. If a fax issent, it's just like a regular fax machine. You then get notification in your e-mailbox when a voicemail message or fax has arrived and can play the voicemail message through your computer (you need speakers and a sound card for this) or open up the fax and then print it out if you want. W.H.O.A. has one - you canget one, too!  

Geta P.O. Box. If you need a contact mailing address, spend the money and get a P.O. Box in your town or the next town over. It's better to be safe than sorry! 

Get an unlisted telephone number. Yes, you may have to contact everyone you know that you've changed your phone number, but which is more important - protecting yourself and your family or being listed everywhere? If you're currently listed in the telephone book, then anyone can find you online. Go to the The Ultimates White Pages (www.theultimates.com)and do a search for your phone number, or do a reverse search with your phone number. If you are listed, you need to contact each and every phone listing website and find out how to get your name/phone number removed. But remember, if you are listed,  next year when the new phone books come out you'll go right back up on their sites.  

GetCaller ID If you insist on keeping your listed telephone number. Then, if someone begins harassing you on-line, looks up your listed number on the net and begins calling you, you can sometimes figure out who it is if their number shows up on Caller ID.  

Ego Surf.Put your first name and last name in quotes in a search engine such as Yahoo!, Google or Dogpile and see if there are any results regarding you. You just might be surprised at what you find. Also put in the names of your spouse, loved ones and/or children. Remember to put their names in quotes to refine the search results.  

Never give your password to anyone,especially if someone sends you an IM (Instant Message). Your ISP will never,ever ask you for your password while you are on-line or via e-mail.  

Don't provide your credit card numberor other identifying information as proof of age to access or subscribe to awebsite run by a company you are not familiar with.  

Instruct children to never, ever giveout personal information - their realname, address, or telephone number on-line without your permission. 

©2000Jayne A. Hitchcock, President, W.H.O.A., http://www.haltabuse.org.

WhereCan You Go for Help?

• Contact your local policedepartment. If you suspect thatyour cyberstalker is your ex-partner, ask to speak with an officer at the RiskAssessment Unit.
  
  
• If you are receiving harassinge-mails on an account provided by an education institution contact the HumanRights or Sexual Harassmentofficer. Many colleges anduniversities have established policies to deal with cyberstalking.
  
  
• As in the case of physicalstalking, the victims of cyberstalking can experience trauma. Contact your local feminist counseling and referral service if you needto talk. You can do this by looking inside the front cover of your telephonebook for the numbers of your local shelter and sexual assault centre.

There are numerous on-lineresources about cyberstalking.

• Safety Ed.
  www.safetyed.org/
  In addition toproviding in depth information about on-line harassment, Safety Ed.International offers cyber classes and helps cyberstalking victims.
  
• Cyberangles
  www.cyberangels.org/stalking/stalker.html
  Foundedin 1985, Cyberangles is an Internet safety organization. It provides information about everything from child pornography toprivacy violations. The section oncyberstalking is extensive. It includes safety tips for children, stalker profiles and offers help to victims.
  
• Stop Net Abusers Inc.
  www.stopnetabusers.org
  This site is dedicated to the victims of the stalkers who frequent chat rooms and InternetRelay Chat (IRC) channels.  Itprovides information about the perpetrators as well as advice on how best todeal with them.
  
• Womenspace
  www.womenspace.ca
  Althoughthis site does not provide specific information about cyberstalking, it is greatfor women who are looking for feminist space on-line. Womenspace is involved in a campaign to "ensure women, girls, andwomen's groups have equal access, equal participation, and an equal voice incommunication technologies." Theyalso publish an on-line magazine about women and the Internet.

To learn more about stalking on the METRAC site, visit our FAQ sheet on stalking, our Statistics sheet on stalking, or our Justice page on Stalking and Criminal Harassment.