Stalking: Documentation, Digital Safety, and Finding Help

If you are in immediate physical danger or need urgent medical help in the United States, call 911 or local emergency services when it is safe to do so. For suicide, mental-health, or substance-use crisis support, call or text 988. These services have different purposes: 988 does not replace 911 for immediate physical danger.

SPARC provides stalking-specific education and tools but is not an emergency hotline. For confidential advocate support, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-799-SAFE (7233), by texting START to 88788, or through TheHotline.org.

Stalking is a pattern, not a prediction

SPARC describes stalking behaviorally as a pattern directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for safety or experience substantial emotional distress. Legal definitions and evidence requirements vary by jurisdiction. General education cannot determine whether conduct meets a local criminal or civil standard.

Behavior may happen in person, through technology, through other people, or across several channels. Possible examples include repeated unwanted contact, following or appearing at regular locations, monitoring accounts or location, unwanted deliveries, property interference, impersonation, threats, or gathering information through friends and relatives. The meaning depends on context and pattern, not on a single checklist item.

See SPARC’s definition and frequently asked questions and victim handbook.

Document only when it is safe and useful

A dated record may help show conduct across time if a person later seeks advocacy, workplace or school help, a protective order, or criminal-justice support. SPARC’s documentation log includes space for dates, locations, witnesses, reports, and evidence.

Information that may be useful to preserve includes messages, call logs, voicemails, screenshots, account alerts, photographs of property damage, delivery records, witness names, and report numbers. Storage is part of safety: copies on a shared device, shared cloud account, or accessible home location may be visible to the person causing concern.

Documentation does not guarantee that a platform, employer, school, court, or law-enforcement agency will act. It is an option, not an obligation. A stalking or domestic-violence advocate can help weigh the benefit and risk in a specific situation.

Make technology changes with context

If someone may be monitoring a phone, vehicle, account, or connected device, an abrupt password change, block, or tracker removal can sometimes reveal that access was discovered. It may also affect evidence. Consider using a safer device and reviewing the situation with an advocate before major changes.

The NNEDV Safety Net Project technology plan and location-tracking guide explain options and tradeoffs. No online checklist can verify that a device is safe or rule out monitoring software.

Consider support across the places you use

Depending on the circumstances, a personalized plan may involve home, work, school, transportation, childcare, pets, online accounts, building staff, trusted people, or local victim services. Options may include changing how information is shared, identifying safer contacts, preserving records, reviewing workplace or school procedures, or asking about local legal resources.

There is no universal requirement to confront, warn, block, report, or respond. Direct contact may carry different risks in different situations. Survivor autonomy comes first, and responsibility remains with the person choosing the stalking behavior.

Risk tools have limits

SPARC’s risk and safety resources describe specialist assessment tools that examine the broader situation. Associated risk factors are not predictions or guarantees. They are inputs for trained assessment at a point in time, not a score that can promise what another person will do.

Legal information varies by location

Stalking definitions, protective-order eligibility, reporting processes, and evidence rules differ by jurisdiction. WomensLaw provides state-by-state plain-language legal information. It is not a substitute for individualized advice from a qualified local advocate or attorney.

Sources and review standard

Reviewed August 9, 2026. Material claims were checked against SPARC, the NNEDV Safety Net Project, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and WomensLaw. This page provides general education, not individualized legal, medical, emergency, or safety advice.

Return to the Stay Safe hub for ungated emergency contacts, the monitored-device warning, the coercive-control guide, and practical tools.