Generic harassment differs from a stalking. In particular, harassment offence covers sporadic and random conducts carried out by the offender. On the contrary, stalking requires persecutory conducts able to provoke anxiety, fear, and lifestyle changing.
Stalking offence is characterised by repeated behaviors carried out by the stalker. Such conducts shall:
– Create a persistent anxiety and fear mood;
– Instil fear for close relative or other individuals’ safety;
– Force the victim to shift his/her lifestyle habits.
Based on that, stalking offence does not depends on behaviors but, contrarily, on behaviors’ effect on the victim. Moreover, persistency of aforementioned conducts is fundamental in order to provoke a change on lifestyle habits or inducing fear or anxiety.
For instance, some Facebook behavior may constitute stalking offence:
– Persistent, offensive and public messages within a Facebook group may constitute stalking;
– Persistent, threatening, and private messages may constitute stalking
– Undesired and persistent submission of sexual videos or picture may constitute stalking.
Moreover, there is evidence of stalking conducts whenever the offender has created several Facebook accounts to carried out his/her persecutory behaviours.