Stalking is unwanted pursuit, following, harassment. Legally, many states define stalking as the willful, malicious and repeated following or harassment of another person. To harass means to "engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose" (Florida statute 784.048).
Some states require direct threats while others do not. A victim may be experiencing extreme terror and feelings of harassment, but be unable to seek legal assistance due to the lack of an explicit threat to harm.
Despite the development of stalking laws across the nation, staking remains an under-detected crime that is hard to prove and terrifying to experience. Each stalking behavior by itself may or may not be illegal and generally does not constitute the crime of stalking. When these behaviors are viewed together, however, a pattern emerges that serves no purpose than to annoy, alarm and terrorize a victim.
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