Everyone Should Have the Right to Feel Safe

Everyone should have the right to feel safe, especially in their own home. Evil spirited people and the mentally ill should not be allowed to take that feeling of safety away. The innocent should not be forced to spend thousands of dollars and countless sleepless nights to protect themselves and their families. People should not be forced to move out of the home, neighborhood, and school district that they love just to feel safe.

When people are harassed at their own home by an unknown suspect, there is very little the police can do. Police take a report and file it away. They can make a point to drive through the neighborhood a bit more than usual, but that takes dumb luck to happen to be driving by as the person is creeping around. Especially since someone who is trying not to be caught will most likely be in a location not visible from the road. All that they can suggest is to purchase expensive security equipment including cameras and alarms. No matter how compassionate they are about the situation, they can just offer to respond if your security system is tripped or if you see someone on your property. If this person really means to do you harm, the response by police if often too late.

When the mentally ill become fixated on a person or fantasy about a person, it can escalate to violence against their target. The type of illness that can lead to stalking is not a type of illness that develops overnight. There are many warning signs for long periods of time prior to getting to this level. Where are the doctors, caretakers, loved ones? I do not understand why there are not consequences for those overseeing the care of the mentally ill.

Over the last two years, there have been so many PSAs our tax dollars have been paying for in regard to mental health. Most of these are geared towards depression and suicide. Many others about domestic violence and child abuse. With all of the isolation, why are we not seeing information on getting people help that feel so alone and are despirate enough to force relationships?

People who suffer from depression and other mental illnesses that contemplate suicide have many resources at their fingertips. There is a national hotline 1-800-273-8255 and website Lifeline (suicidepreventionlifeline.org) along with many other local options. They have choice to get help and their victim is themself. I am not downplaying suicide. When one takes their own life, they leave a trail of pain and suffering to their survivors. The doctors, caretakers, and loved ones also have many options to help prevent someone from committing suicide and help recognize the signs like NIMH » Warning Signs of Suicide (nih.gov) or Help Prevent Suicide | SAMHSA . This is national problem with nationwide programs to assist. These programs are advertised over all forms of media often.

The same thing is true with domestic violence and child abuse. Whether you are the victim of domestic violence or someone who suspects it, programs are out there for you to reach out to advertised over all forms of media regularly. There is a national hotline 1−800−799−SAFE(7233) and website National Domestic Violence Hotline | The Administration for Children and Families (hhs.gov) to utilize if you or someone you know is a victim along with many other local organizations.

In domestic violence situations, the victim knows their attacker. The victim has options to have their attacker arrested, leave their abuser and be granted restraining orders against the person doing them harm. I am not downplaying domestic violence. I’m sure it is easy for someone outside of the situation to say, “just leave”. Since so many people continue to stay in these destructive environments, I’m sure there is much more to it, and I hope I never find out for myself.

When it comes to being stalked, the victim may not know who their stalker is. This person may be making unwanted phone calls or sneaking around watching their victim. A stalker must be caught committing consistent behavior of following or unwanted contact with someone. When the victim doesn’t even know who this person is, it seems nearly impossible to stop the unwanted attention. The victim lives in fear for their lives, for the lives of their families while their stalker continues to harass them and could escalate to violence.

Someone could be targeted as a victim of stalking motivated by anger or jealousy. This is often a rejected lover or someone who felt denied a relationship. Just because the victim does know the person, that doesn’t mean the victim realizes who the stalker is. When they are making an effort to watch and not be seen, how would the victim know who it is?

Some stalkers are mentally ill individuals. These types of stalkers often have delusions of a relationship that does not exist in the real world. This type of stalker can be very dangerous especially if they are not getting what they want or feel rejected or betrayed by the victim. The victim would have no idea how their daily life is portraying to a mentally ill stalker.

A victim of stalking has little options to protect their safety. They are not in control of their own situation. Stalking victims may not have any idea who their stalker is to have them arrested or gain a protective order. Even if the stalker’s identity is known, they need to show consistent behavior of repeated unwanted attention. There are resources out there like 855-4-VICTIM/855-484-2846 and their website Safety-Strategies.pdf (stalkingawareness.org), but they are not well known. There are not national advertisements over all forms of media making people aware how to get help.

The help that you can get is often not helpful. It just suggests ways to alter your own life. There is not a program to attend or an offender who can easily be arrested. All that is often done is a report made, suggested to keep a log, and purchase a security system. A piece of paper in a filing cabinet at a police station or a list of the times you were followed, or an alarm will not prevent harm to the victim.

Statistics:

When searching for the statistics on how many people are victims of suicide, domestic violence, and stalking each year, I was shocked by the results. I was easily able to find that on average 700,000 people commit suicide and 8 million people are victims of domestic violence each year. Stalking statistics were not as easily found. When searching, I kept finding statistics of domestic violence and resources to domestic violent hotlines. This is part of the problem. Not all stalkers are known. What I think of domestic violence is often not what I consider stalking. Eventually, I was able to find that on average over 5 million people are stalked annually. 5 million people without an avenue to seek help. There are 5 million people each year out there afraid for their lives who have nowhere to turn to feel safe.

Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? I do not have a solution for this problem, but I surely can tell this is a problem. Maybe some of our tax dollars being spent on all of these PSAs should be put towards a way to research and discover solutions for the 5 million people out there who live in fear daily over no fault of their own with no place to turn.