Two million Australian women have experienced stalking since the age of 15.
New analysis from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has also shown that in the past 10 years almost one million woman have reported being stalked.
ABS Head of Crime and Justice Statistics William Milne said new results from the 2021-22 Personal Safety Survey revealed an estimated 2.7 million Australian adults had experienced stalking since the age of 15.
“We found one in five women and one in 15 men have been stalked,” Mr Milne said.
“Women were almost eight times more likely to be stalked by a male than by a female, while men were stalked by a male and by a female at a similar rate.”
He said the new analysis also identified socio-demographic characteristics that were associated with higher rates of stalking for women.
“Women who were more likely to experience stalking included young women, those who were studying or renting, and those under financial stress.”
Mr Milne said the report also contained detailed information about the most recent stalking episode by a male in the last 10 years, with almost one million women experiencing stalking during that time.
He said over three quarters (78 percent) of women were stalked by a male they knew.
“The perpetrator was most commonly an intimate partner (431,400 or 45 percent), which included current or former partners.
“Half of the women who were stalked by a male intimate partner were assaulted or threatened with assault by that same partner.”
Mr Milne said common stalking behaviours women experienced by their male intimate partner included:
- Maintained unwanted contact with them online or by phone (78 percent).
- Loitered or hung around their location, such as their home or work (60 percent).
- Followed them in person or tracked them electronically (53 percent).
“Half of the women who were stalked by their male intimate partner were stalked for more than a year. This included 115,900 women who said that the stalking continued for over three years,” he said.
