Stalking
Stalking
Stalking refers to a sustained course of conduct in which a person engages in fixated and obsessive actions that are unwanted and occur repeatedly, leaving the target feeling afraid, threatened, alarmed, or seriously distressed.
This “FOUR” pattern—Fixated, Obsessive, Unwanted, and Repeated—captures the defining features: the individual cannot desist, often escalates by finding new routes of access, the behaviour is unwelcome, and it occurs more than once, forming a recognisable pattern. Stalking is frequently perpetrated by someone the victim knows, such as an ex-partner or acquaintance, and can occur face-to-face, through communications, or online.
Behavioural manifestations include the following or loitering near a person’s home, workplace, or regular locations; turning up uninvited; sending persistent calls, texts, emails, letters, gifts, or messages even after being blocked; spying, watching, and other forms of surveillance; interfering with or damaging property; identity-related interference; and making direct or implied threats.
Cyberstalking may involve monitoring social media or internet use, accessing or hacking accounts, installing spyware or tracking software, posting about the victim, or sharing private information or images without consent.
Although single acts may appear minor in isolation, stalking is established when two or more incidents collectively create fear or significant disruption. Consequences commonly include chronic anxiety, reduced trust, safety-related lifestyle changes, and, in some cases, long-term psychological or physical harm.
Where you Find it
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)—also termed domestic or spousal violence—refers to actual or threatened physical harm, and more broadly encompasses physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, including coercion and stalking, inflicted by a current or former intimate partner.
The menace of stalking
Invisible threats
Source: FRA 2024. Figures are indicative; verify latest data before publication.
-
Almost 1 in 5 women in the EU have been stalked.
-
It is a pattern of behaviour used to control, intimidate and frighten women. As a result, almost 30% of women stop going out alone. Others carry something to protect themselves, or change their usual route.
-
Across the EU, 8.5% of women experience cyberstalking and 7% of working women are harassed sexually online.
Looking for Help?
Get an Answer
-
Recognize the pattern, not just one incident
Stalking behaviors include repeated calls, messages, and visits to your home or workplace, contacting your friends and acquaintances to gather information about you, unwanted gifts and letters, threats, vandalism, false accusations, and revenge porn.
Individual messages or calls don’t have to be threatening on their own. It’s the relentless, cumulative nature that defines stalking, including the online form (cyberstalking) through fake profiles and digital monitoring.
Any single act can look harmless, which is exactly why documenting the pattern is essential.
-
The core rule: do not engage
Once you’ve made clear (ideally once, in writing) that you want no contact, stop responding entirely.
Any reaction like answering, arguing, blocking-then-unblocking, even asking them to stop again, rewards the behavior and tends to escalate it.
Stalkers are often seeking a response; silence denies them that. Don’t try to reason with, confront, or “explain yourself” to them.
-
Document everything
This is the single most important practical step, both for your own clarity and because stalking can be hard to prove, since perpetrators often act in subtle, hard-to-detect ways and avoid direct contact.
Keep a log with dates, times, locations, and what happened. Save and screenshot every message, email, voicemail, and social-media interaction (don’t delete them, even if upsetting).
Photograph any gifts, notes, or property damage. Note witnesses. A clear evidence trail is what turns a complaint into a prosecutable case.
-
Tighten your security
Physical: vary your routines and routes, tell trusted people at work and home what’s happening so they don’t unknowingly share your whereabouts, and consider who has keys to your home.
Digital: change passwords on all accounts (assume the stalker may know or guess them), enable two-factor authentication, tighten privacy settings, turn off location sharing and check for it in photos you post, and review devices and accounts a former partner may still have access to. Be alert to tracking via shared accounts, family plans, or GPS devices.
Tell people around you rather than keeping it secret isolation is what stalkers exploit.
-
Report it
Contact the police on 100 (or 112), and you can file a formal complaint to start prosecution.
Bring your documentation. The national SOS helpline 15900 (24/7, free, confidential, available in Greek and English) can also advise you, connect you to legal and psychological support, and help you think through a safety plan.
If the stalker is a current or former partner, the domestic-violence support network applies as well.
-
Take threats and escalation seriously
Stalking is the kind of situation where trusting your instincts matters; if the frequency, intensity, or boldness increases, treat that as a warning sign and seek help quickly rather than waiting to see if it passes.
If you ever feel in immediate danger, call 100 or 112 right away.
-
A practical note on the emotional side
Living under surveillance is exhausting and can make you doubt whether you’re “overreacting.”
You’re not! The fear stalking produces is a normal response, and support from a counselor or helpline is part of coping, not a sign you can’t handle it.
Stalking Incident Log
-
How to use this log
Add one row to the “Incident Log” tab for every separate incident, as soon as you safely can, because memory fades and details matter.
Be factual and specific. Write what happened, not how you interpret it. Exact words, dates and time carry weight.
Never delete an entry, even if it seems minor. Stalking is proven by the PATTERN, and small incidents build that pattern.
-
Keeping evidence
Don’t rely on the log alone – keep the underlying proof too: screenshots, photos, saved voicemails, emails, the gift/letter itself.
Screenshot messages so they show the sender, date and time. Save originals; don’t reply or forward in a way that alters them.
In the “Evidence saved” column, note WHAT you kept and WHERE it is, so you can find it later (e.g. “Screenshot in folder, voicemail saver”).
-
Safety when storing this file
Store this where the person cannot reach it. Avoid a shared computer, shared cloud account, or family phone plan they can access.
Consider a password-protected file, a private cloud account they don’t know about, or a trusted person’s device.
If they may monitor your devices, fill it in somewhere safe (a library, a friend’s computer) rather than on a watched device.
-
If you report to Police
On Greece, stalking (“persistent pursuit”) is a criminal offence and is prosecuted on the victim’s formal complaint.
Bring this log and your evidence. Record any police report or case number in the “Reported to” column so everything ties together.
Emergency: 100 (Police) or 112.
Support & Guidance 15900 (national SOS line, 24/7, free, Greek & English(.
How to ask for help
Organizations, helplines, and support resources.