I met Jayne Hitchcock over a decade ago while I was filming a TV pilot called Predators. It showcased several victims of online and offline crime, primarily those who were being stalked. Jayne was asked to participate because of her expertise and knowledge of the internet as well as her involvement with related legislation.
Stalking can be a terrifying experience for victims. It is a crime of power and control. The most common forms of stalking in the physical world involve excessive phone calls, following the victim in person, leaving presents or notes on the victim’s vehicle or at his or her home, sending letters via postal mail, making unexpected visits at the victim’s home or workplace, sending text messages, and actual surveillance. Often, stalking is an attempt to force a relationship with someone who is unwilling to have a relationship, whether or not there was any type of involvement beforehand.
Cyberstalking is a newer form of the same crime and is occurring more often in our society because of the advent of the internet. With cyberstalking, a person is followed and pursued online via email, blogs, social networking sites, instant messaging, message boards, webcams, chat rooms, and more. You name the medium and a cyberstalker has probably found a way to use it to pursue a victim. A victim’s privacy is invaded in what has become a 24-hour world. Not only can victims be stalked in person, they can be stalked online and via their cell phones, leaving them no chance to breathe or escape from the madness. Every movement can be watched. This type of harassment can disrupt the victims’ lives and leave them feeling extremely fearful and threatened. Many feel they have nowhere to turn for help.
Cyberstalking and online harassment generally involve men stalking women, and in other cases, adult predators or pedophiles targeting innocent children. With the internet, predators don’t need to leave their homes anymore to find or harass their targets. They have no fear of physical violence, since they believe that they cannot be physically touched in cyberspace.
The stories in this book are both frightening and real and depict things that can and do happen every day. They show us what can happen to people just like you and me, people who never thought they could become victims of online crimes.
Parents need to be aware of their children’s online activities to protect them from pedophiles and predators. We must also remind children that if they are being bullied or manipulated online, they should log off or block the person immediately or just ignore them altogether. They should also feel comfortable enough to confide in a parent or a trusted adult if someone is scaring them online.
The same holds true for adults; we need to remember that the online world has plenty of bad guys in it just as the real world does. We cannot ignore the vast online world, which can be very frightening at times. When the internet became more accessible to the general public in 1993, there were only 5,000 websites. As of March 2012, that figure has grown to more than 640 million, according to Netcraft.
I encourage everyone to learn what happens on the internet, good and bad, so we can teach our children how to be safe and smart online and keep ourselves safe too.
An online stranger may entice you or your child into a conversation by pretending to be a friend. We may not know who the person communicating with us really is, but we tend to trust too much. We want to believe that people have our best interests at heart, but unfortunately, this isn’t always the case, as you will read in the chapters that follow.
Because online crimes are real, the consequences can be life-transforming and even fatal. The emotional scars that result can persist long after the crime ends and can run the gamut from depression and anxiety to shame and loss of self-esteem. It’s not only the victims who feel a sense of hopelessness and vulnerability, but their families and friends as well.
When I was a child, I was one of six girls who used to run around the neighborhood from house to house. Neither our parents nor any of us felt threatened. Life wasn’t scary back then, and home was our safe haven. Today, our homes are not what they used to be. We must not let our privacy become permeated by evil. Let’s put an end to these heinous crimes. Let’s make our homes and communities safe again, online and offline.
Jayne, thank you for continuing to educate us and for doing everything to keep us safe.
Denise Brown
Advocate Against Violence