Victims of stalking often report feeling discounted by the systems designed to assist them. Despite the prevalence of stalking—a crime affecting some 7.5 million people at some time in their lives—allied professionals responsible for interacting with victims of crime are often hampered by lack of training and resources to address the crime of stalking in a comprehensive manner. Even victim service professionals find themselves ill-equipped to provide victims of stalking with effective safety planning strategies. Safety planning for stalking victims requires an understanding of the tactics and technologies employed by stalkers to monitor and instill fear in their victims, tools to assess the threat that a stalker poses to the victim, and effective countermeasures that will promote victim safety and offender accountability.
This webinar will address common tactics used by perpetrators, including the use of technology, and will focus on effective safety-planning strategies. The presenter will also discuss stalking-specific risk assessment tools to better determine the level of threat to the victim.
By the end of this webinar, participants will be better able to:
· Recognize common tactics used by stalkers
· Identify key safety-planning strategies to address these tactics
· Conduct stalking-specific risk assessments
Cost:
Free for members / $25 for non-members
Speaker
Jennifer Landhuis is the Director of the Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC), an Initiative of AEquitas. Jennifer provides training and technical assistance on all aspects of stalking to allied professionals across the country. SPARC is an initiative aimed at ensuring first responders and other allied professionals have the specialized knowledge to identify and respond to the crime of stalking. Jennifer has been an advocate and educator on the issues of stalking, domestic violence, and sexual assault for the last 20 years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice.
The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center
In October 2017, AEquitas received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to provide comprehensive training and technical assistance to OVW grantees. The Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center (SPARC) will provide allied professionals with the tools, resources, and support they need to promote victim safety and offender accountability in stalking cases in their communities and across the country.
By providing specialized training, technical assistance, and resources, as well as promoting awareness-raising activities, SPARC will work with criminal justice and allied professionals to enhance their ability to identify stalking and to respond effectively. SPARC will also develop a robust website for the distribution of accurate, current, and practical resources on stalking, with a special focus on Stalking Awareness Month in January.