When does following someone you fancy become a crime?
As youngsters, tailing someone because you just want to see them but are afraid to talk to them seems like harmless flattery. So when does it become stalking? My own personal opinion is that if you feel threatened or intimidated by someone that always seems to be where you are, knows your routines, invades your life with phone calls, text messages, e-mails and so on, then you're being stalked. A brilliant book that examines the psychology of stalking is by Ian McKewan, called Enduring Love. It looks at the manipulation that takes place to make the victim feel as though it's their own fault and that they have caused the situation themselves.
The nearest I've been to being stalked is when splitting up from a three year relationship I was paranoid that 'he' was following me. He kept turning up at the door bringing presents; and whenever I went out, I was constantly looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine, from that experience, what it must be like to live through an experience of being stalked for real.
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