Staying safe if you are being stalked

Get support early

There is no national stalking hotline, but trained advocates at domestic violence programs, rape crisis centers and victim service agencies help stalking victims every day. VictimConnect (1-855-484-2846, call, text or chat) can refer you to a service provider near you.

An advocate can help you make a safety plan for home, work and travel, and explain options such as a protective order, which vary by state.

Keep a record of everything

1. Write down each incident: the date, time, place, what happened and who saw it.
2. Save messages, voicemails, emails and social media posts. Take screenshots that show the date and the sender.
3. Keep the record somewhere the person cannot reach, such as a notebook at work or an account they have never had access to.
4. SPARC publishes a free incident and behavior log you can use as a template.

Secure your phone and accounts

• Change the passwords on your email, phone carrier, cloud storage and social media, and turn on two-step verification.
• Check which apps and people can see your location, and turn off sharing you did not set up.
• Review the devices signed in to your accounts and sign out any you do not recognize.
• If you think a device has been tampered with, talk to an advocate before removing anything; removing it can alert the person and destroy evidence.

Make yourself harder to find

• Remove your home address and phone number from people-search sites, which publish them for anyone to look up.
• Ask about your state's address confidentiality program, which can give you a substitute address for public records.
• Tell trusted people at home, work and school what is happening and what the person looks like, so they do not share your whereabouts.
• Vary your routes and routines where you safely can.

Questions

Related

• Where to get help if you are being stalked
• How to help someone who is being stalked
• Remove yourself from Whitepages
• See all sites in the Privacy Handbook