This study investigated stalking by former romantic partners. It aimed to identify characteristics of relationships differentiating stalking from other post relationship experiences (harassment or no-harassment). A self-report questionnaire completed by 305 female undergraduates assessed experiences during and following termination of the relationship. Of the participants, 34.4% were classified as victims of stalking, 32.1% as having suffered post relationship harassment and 33.4% as having experienced no-harassment. Participants experiencing either stalking or harassment were most likely to have experienced controlling behaviour and denigration from their former partner during the relationship. Stalking was differentiated from harassment in that stalking victims were more likely to experience violence and sexual coercion during the relationship. These results are consistent with conceptualisations of stalking as a variant or extension of domestic violence.

Stalking is a significant social problem identified in most Western countries (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1996; Budd & Mattinson, 2000; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). Whilst there is disagreement about how stalking should be defined, many authors accept that stalking consists of a constellation of behaviours in which one individual causes fear in another by inflicting on them repeated unwanted attention, intrusion, and communications,(eg Pathe & Mullen, 1997). The most common form of stalking is that following the termination of romantic relationships and this appears to pose the greatest risk of interpersonal violence (Farnum, James, & Cantrell, 2000; Kienlen, Birmingham, Solberg, O’Regan,