""You don't know me, but I know you.""
Allie, a freshman at UW-Madison, listened to her stalker speak to her for the first time. She was a victim of both phone and cyber stalking by an unknown perpetrator. He began by obsessively calling her and sending 28 friend requests on Facebook under different aliases.
""Dec. 8 was the first time he called me. He called me five times in a row, and I didn't answer because it was from a blocked number, and then I finally answered it. [He was] talking to me as if he knew me,"" Allie said.
According to the UW Police Department, stalking is a course of conduct unwanted by the person to whom it is directed and can include, but is not limited to, sending unwanted cards, gifts or e-mails, calling or texting the victim, taking photos of the victim and gathering information about the victim's personal history.
Detective Cheryl Radzinski of UWPD said stalking is a felony under Wisconsin statute and can lead to forms of violence like sexual assault and dating violence.
According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, one in 12 women is stalked during her lifetime. Of those, 13 percent are women in college. The NCVC said 64 percent of male and 77 percent of female victims know their stalkers.
According to Carmen Hotvedt, violence prevention specialist at University Health Services, people are going to greater lengths than ever to stalk people. In extreme cases, perpetrators are able to place GPS trackers in their victims' phones.
""There is a massive upswing in the use of technology,"" Hotvedt said.
Phone stalking is one of the most common modes of stalking; over 60 percent of stalkers make unwanted phone calls to their victims, according to the NCVC. However, with the accessibility of the Internet today, cyber stalking is becoming increasingly prevalent.
Despite technological advances, Hotvedt said physical means of stalking still occur.
""[I had] no idea how he got my number … All [he said] was ‘I am smart, I am smart.' He said he knew my schedule and knew where I lived,"" Allie said. She also said she was afraid to talk to him while walking home late at night.
According to Hotvedt, sometimes students are unsure what to call the fear they experience because it is difficult to determine where a harmless crush ends and stalking and obsession begin.
""You can have a crazy crush that is not … threatening,"" Hotvedt said. ""It is not illegal to send flowers, it is not illegal to post on someone's Facebook wall or garner information about them, but it becomes illegal when it is not wanted and when it is used as a way to kind of monitor someone else's body or their behavior and causes us fear.""
UWPD recommends victims make it clear to the stalker that their actions are unwelcome, avoid all contact with the stalker, document incidents of stalking and keep personal information private.
Radzinski said sometimes a victim will communicate with the perpetrator unintentionally. She said even a small amount of communication is seen as a form of attention and rather than convincing a stalker to stop, it encourages them to continue.
""I didn't think he would continue to pursue me after I made it obvious that I didn't want to talk to him, but he continued to call me, and I just didn't think about how dangerous it could be,"" Allie said.
Like instances of sexual assault, Radzinski said stalking is an underreported crime because victims often know the perpetrator.
""I just wish people would come forward to somebody on campus to get some help, because most times these cases do require intervention,"" she said. ""It's hard for somebody to get someone else to stop their behavior without some intervention.""
For more information on how to report instances of stalking, visit www.uwpd.wisc.edu.
