Is It a Crime? Cyberstalking Victims’ Reasons for Not Reporting to Law Enforcement

Abstract

Using a sample of 376 young adults (18- to 25-year-olds) who had been cyberstalked in the previous 12 months, the current study attempts to (1) understand the self-identified reasons behind cyberstalking victims’ choice to not report their experiences to law enforcement and (2) determine if there are gender or racial differences associated with the reasons for not reporting. Findings revealed that approximately 86% of cyberstalking victims did not personally report their victimization to law enforcement. The most common reasons for not reporting included not knowing their experience was criminal in nature (53.99%), dealing with it another way (42.82%), and thinking the police would not do anything for them (32.98%) or would not be helpful (31.91%). Analyses also revealed that there were gender-specific differences in one of the reasons for not reporting. Women and another gender identity selected “Thought the police would not do anything” significantly more than men. Implications for these findings are provided.

Keywords

• cyberstalking
• victims
• reporting
• gender
• race