In his opening remarks at a hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in September, 1992, Senator Joseph R. Biden stated that the estimated number of people who are being stalked right now exceeds twice the number of people who will die in a given year from all accidents combined including motor vehicle accidents.

Unfortunately, stalking and harassment most often arises from interpersonal relationships -- individuals trying to leave a volatile domestic situation, ending a dating or intimate relationship, rejection of an intensely persistent admirer or a random acquaintance who becomes obsessively fixated.

If, as experts predict, one in twenty American women will become a victim of stalking/harassment at some time in their lives, your awareness of this issue and the laws in support of victims can be invaluable.

(The following statutes were taken from the South Carolina Code of Laws.)

Harassment: A pattern (two or more acts within a ninety-day period) of intentional, substantial, and unreasonable intrusion into the private life of a targeted person that causes the person and would cause a reasonable person in his/her position to suffer mental distress. Harassment may include, but is not limited to:

• following the targeted person as he/she moves from location to location;
• visual, physical, or verbal contact that is initiated, maintained, or repeated after a person has been provided notice that the contact is unwanted;
• surveillance of or the maintenance of a presence near the targeted person’s residence, place of work, school or another place regularly occupied by the targeted person by the targeted person;
• vandalism and property damage.

Stalking: A pattern (two or more acts within a ninety-day period) of words or conduct that is intended to cause and does cause a targeted person and would cause a reasonable person in the targeted person’s position to fear:

• death of the person or a member of his/her family;
• assault upon the person or a member of his/her family;
• bodily injury to the person or a member of his/her family;
• criminal sexual conduct on the person or a member of his/her family;
• kidnapping of the person or a member of his/her family;
• damage to the property of the person or a member of his/her family.

(Harassment or stalking does not include words or conduct that is protected by the Constitution of this State or the United States, and does not apply to law enforcement officers or process servers performing their official duties.)

 Penalties upon conviction:

A person who engages in harassment, upon conviction, must be fined not more than $200 and/or imprisoned not more than thirty days.

A person convicted of harassment against a person within 7 years of a prior conviction of harassment against or stalking of that person, or when an injunction or restraining order is in effect, upon conviction, must be fined not more than $1000 and/or imprisoned for not more than one year.

A person who engages in stalking, upon conviction, must be fined not more than $1000 and/or imprisoned for not more than one year.

If an injunction or restraing order is in effect, the individual, upon conviction, must be fined not more than $2000 and/or imprisoned for not more than two years.

If convicted within seven years of a prior conviction of harassment or stalking of that person, the individual charged must be fined not more than $5000 and/or imprisoned not more than five years.

If you or someone you know is being harassed or stalked:

Document each and every incident -- date, time, witnesses and a description of the incident. Include license plate number, etc. to give a thorough description of the individual.

Contact the police. Ask for an official report to be filed.

Don’t keep the harassing/stalking behavior a secret -- tell people and ask for their support.

Use the buddy system -- never walk or jog alone at night and always let someone know where you are going and the expected time you will arrive home.

Locate support groups within your community.