Stalking about power and control ‘They’re hunting human beings’
01/18/2008, 10:59 pm Comment on this story
TAMMIE SLOUP, tammies@mywebtimes.com, 815-431-4048
Your friends may laugh at you. An authority figure may tell you you’re overreacting. Some may even tell you to feel flattered.
But being stalked isn’t funny. It’s not only creepy, it’s dangerous and can lead to physically harming altercations.
About 83 percent of those who are stalked do not report the incidents, said Natalie R. Alexander, prevention director of A Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service, Thursday during a presentation centering on intimate partner stalking at Illinois Valley Community College.
http://mywebtimes.com/ottnews/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=351929
jodislaw.wordpress.com 
Tammie,
Thank you so much for writing this story. I had not recognized that what my estranged husband is doing is stalking me. He cannot come into my home, so he does all of it through email in the name of our children. I feel forced to respond to his emails for fear that if I don’t, he will try to use it against me in our ongoing custody battle.
Even though we are not under the same roof, he makes me feel like he is right there to continue the mental abuse I endured with him for almost 14 years. He tries to appear as though he is caring and concerned about the children while continually jabbing me with insults. I try to send back very short, non-emotional responses. Even so, it creates enormous mental and physical stress.
I am supporting him (required legally), the children and myself and have been counseled recently about my job and the distraction the divorce is causing. Our sales are off significantly, only in part due to the economy. My job is at a strategic level. It is a role where I appear “tough.” Most people would likely find it hard to believe I lived the way I did for so many years or that I am this affected by his actions now.
Almost one year since filing for divorce, neither the divorce nor the custody are finalized. I can’t afford to lose my job; yet, his intense need to control me is pulling me under.
I don’t yet know what I will do with this information. I still believe my attorney will brush this off; however, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you having written this. I do not feel quite so alone. I found your story through reading tonight about Jodi’s Law. Thank you…thank you.