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Post-Relationship Stalking: The Experience of Victims With and Without History of Partner Abuse

  • RESEARCH ON VICTIMS OF INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
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Abstract

This article analyses a side of the post-relationship stalking that has been neglected: the experience of women that were victims of this type of violence without having any history of abuse during their prior relationship. It analyses the differences between post-relationship stalking victims with and without history of partner abuse on what concerns to suffered stalking dynamics, emotional answers and types of coping strategies. This survey gathered data using online resources and the sample was constituted by 107 female post-intimate stalking victims. Results revealed that victims who were targets of past violence suffered a more serious post-relationship stalking campaign. Results also demonstrated that fear towards stalking behaviours is an endemic response when dealing with such experiences. Post-relationship stalking victims, in general, have also revealed being actives in coping with their individual experiences of victimisation.

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Notes

  1. Originally the term ‘stalking’ described the act of stealthily chasing a prey and attacking it (Oxford English Dictionary, 1971 as cited in Purcell et al. 2004).

  2. Since there were 25 % of the cells with an expected count lower than 5, Fisher’s Exact Test was considered.

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Correspondence to Célia Ferreira.

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Ferreira, C., Matos, M. Post-Relationship Stalking: The Experience of Victims With and Without History of Partner Abuse. J Fam Viol 28, 393–402 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9501-5

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