Men & Stalking Statistic

*Men & Stalking Statistic:

The CDC has updated its statistics regarding stalking and men on its stalking page but not on its violence against men page. The 1 in 6 males statistic is the most current estimate. I was curious how estimations could change so drastically, and I noticed that the definition of stalking had changed. When the estimation was 1 in 17, to be considered a victim, a person had to have “felt very fearful, or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed as a result of the perpetrator’s behavior” (Smith et al., 2017, p. 85). However, the current estimation (1 in 6)  required the victim to have “felt fearful, threatened, or concerned for their own safety or the safety of others as a result of the perpetrator’s behavior” (Smith et al., 2021, p. 1).

Smith, S. G., Chen, J., Basile, K. C., Gilbert, L. K., Merrick, M. T., Patel, N., Walling, M., & Jain, A. (2017). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010-2012 State Report. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/NISVS-StateReportBook.pdf

Smith, S. G., Basile, K. C., & Kresnow, M. (2021). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey: 2016/2017 Report on Stalking. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs/nisvsStalkingReport.pdf