According to Dr. Michelle Ward, Criminal Psychologist and narrator of the hit TV reality show Stalked: Someone's Watching You, over 3 million people a year are stalked, over 2/3 of them women. Ninety percent of women killed by husbands or boyfriends had first been stalked.
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that one in 10 women and one in 35 men in the U.S. have been or will be stalked sometime in the future. Among celebrities and other high-profile people alone, the statistics are staggering, and are on the increase. This book is written for everyone - it doesn't matter if you're male or female, gay or straight, young or old, large or small. Bullying, stalking, harassment, revenge and threatening behaviors by someone you know can happen toanyone - and it's probably already happened to you.
We focus predominantly on romanticrelationships, but these principles apply to anyone in your life. For example, many people have been victims of harassment by neighbors, coworkers, bosses, teachers, friends, acquaintances,family members, strangers and hired help. It is not uncommon to suffer harassment by someone you barely know, or someone you've never met - someone who has been watching you and/or studying you without your knowledge (as in Celebrity Stalking).
Our main goal in this book is to assist you in becoming more aware of when someone is controlling, manipulating, harassing, bullying, stalking or threatening you, and empower you to respond in ways that will protect you. Controlling, manipulative, and/or threatening behaviors often turn into turn violence. If you find yourself in a situation with any of these types of people, you will learn how to manage them and yourself.