posted on July 15, 2001 12:24:13 AM
A person I know is being harassed/stalked. I know that term gets bandied about frequently these days, but this situation is out of the ordinary. Several years ago the target met the harasser very briefly at a concert and declined an invitation to go out. The harasser responded by subscribing to internet listservs where the target was active and periodically posting harassing comments of a sexual and personal nature. (For reasons that are still not clear to me the listserv moderators have been unable or unwilling to get rid of the harasser. ) The harasser has also contacted or harassed friends of the target and I believe has shown up at other public events the target attended or planned to attend, causing the target to be nervous of going out. This has now been going on for several years. Does anyone have any practical suggestions to address this situation? The target has many friends on the listserv communities and does not want to have to unsub over what this whacko is doing.
________
I never had one, and I didn\'t want one, and I don\'t, so now I do...
posted on July 15, 2001 05:22:00 AM
You have not said what legal actions you have taken. If you have served a personal protection order on them and they ignored it
that makes a difference. I probably would
follow all the legal remedies possible and then bust the person up pretty bad with a baseball bat if they were ignoring the court order. The police and courts don't really give a damn but it is nice to give them a chance before you take care of it.
Online is one thing but when they show up in person to stalk you they are begging for multiple fractures. If they ignore that I assume nothing short of killing them would work. You better be able to show actual physical contact caused you to fear for your life to do that.
posted on July 15, 2001 08:53:50 AM
I'm puzzled why anyone would allow themselves to be harrassed on-line over a period of several years.
In that situation, long ago I would have unsubscribed, changed my e-mail address, re-subscribed under another name and let those I was friendly with know of the change and asked for their help in establishing the new identity.
posted on July 15, 2001 02:00:55 PM
I think in this particular case the solution you suggest, Stockticker, wouldn't work too well. First of all, the harasser also has targeted friends and people identified with the main target. If all those people had to change their identities things would get kind of confusing. Second, it's not a particularly anonymous listserv. Many of the activities promoted on the list involve getting together in person and people generally know each other by their real names and identities, unlike a board like, say, this one that doesn't involve so much socializing for most of us posters. There's also the issue of whether the target should be forced to leave the community or go only to closed lists due to being singled out by this jerk. It doesn't seem very fair. The target has "gone away" from time to time, the situation dies down, the target comes back, things are OK for a while and then more incidents occur. It's frustrating.
A protective order is one potential solution but I thought they were hard to get on the basis of just online harassment. Does anyone have any actual experience with getting one of these for online stalking or harassment?
________
I never had one, and I didn\'t want one, and I don\'t, so now I do...
posted on July 15, 2001 03:01:33 PM
You indicated this person comes to events where they are both physically present. Two or three incidents like that are a basis no matter how they meet or how they contact online.
Are there threats or any menacing actions?
Is there repeated requests for contact past that first one that have been rejected?
Does the person attempt to follow the person in public places or follow and view them?
Has the person sent items of personally came to the home or workplace of the target?
All a good basis for action.
But it takes a real stand - not wishy washy action.
