Stalking Who can be stalked? Anyone can be the victim of stalking. Stalkers may be current or former partners or spouses, a stranger with an obsession for the victim, a person whom the victim rejected when asked for a date, a co-worker or employer. Stalkers intimidate, harass, terrorize and control victims through various activites. Stalking is intrusive and a violation of privacy. Activities often include following the victim to and from work, school or social activities, standing near the victim's home, making harassing phone calls, and sending unwanted gifts and letters. Wisconsin enacted a criminal penalty for stalking in 1993. Features of the stalking law are: Stalking means repeatedly maintaining a visual or physical proximity to a specific person, (repeatedly means on 2 or more calendar days). Stalking can be any activity if the actor maintains visual or physical proximity, but the acts must elicit fear of bodily harm in the victim. Victims include the specific person being stalked or a member of their immediate family ("immediate family" means spouse, parent, sibling, or any other person who regularly resides in the households or who within the prior 6 months regularly resided in the household). The stalker must have or should have knowledge that the specific person will be placed in reasonable fear of bodily injury to himself or herself or a member of his or her family. The penalty for the first offense of stalking is a Class A misdemeanor. The penalty increases to a Class E felony if the act results in bodily harm to the victim; if the actor has a previous conviction and the present violation occurs within 7 years after the prior conviction. A victim need not have a restraining order to use the stalking law.   How to use Wisconsin's stalking law Call your local law enforcement when you become aware that you are being stalked.. If possible, ask a friend or neighbor to help confirm it and note that to the police. Ask law enforcement to write a formal report. That will document the first episode Explain how fearful the activity is to you. At the second encounter, call your local law enforcement officer and remind them of the first documented encounter. Keep a notebook or calendar. Include dates, times, locations, and full description of the incident. Call your local domestic abuse or sexual assault program or the victim witness program in your county for further assistance. Seek a protective order.   What to do if you are not in the kind of relationship included in the stalking law? Wisconsin maintains a law against harassment, Chapter 947.013. Using the same suggestions noted in the stalking law portion of this paper will help your efforts.   Developed by Kathleen Kreneck, Policy Development Specialist, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence