What is stalking?

Stalking can be carried out by someone you know or a stranger causing anxiety and worry about your safety.

What is stalking?

Stalking is obsessive, repeated and unwanted behaviour from someone towards you – it can make you feel anxious, threatened and worried about your safety.

Stalking can happen in person and online. It can create fear that someone will become violent towards you.

Stalking can be carried out by someone you know or a stranger. Anyone can be a victim of stalking, regardless of their gender, age or social background.

Stalking is a criminal offence, and it is never the victim’s fault.

Know the signs of stalking

• Constantly following you
• Showing up at your home or workplace uninvited
• Monitoring your online activity
• Visiting places you usually go to
• Messing with your property
• Asking your friends or family for information about you
• Hanging around some place they know you go often
• Repeatedly messaging you or calling you
• Creating fake accounts to spy on you or pretend to be you
• Using spyware to access your personal data
• Tracking your location through geotags or social apps
• Posting your personal information online without your consent

Stalking is a criminal offence and can be linked to other related crimes such as harassment and domestic abuse.

You're not alone

If you find yourself in this situation, remember that it's not your fault and help is available. You don’t have to deal with this on your own.

Where to get support

If you feel like there is an immediate danger or threat to life, please call the emergency services on 999.

Report + Support

If you would like to report something to City, you can use our online reporting platform, Report + Support.

Report + Support makes it easier to confidentially report a wide range of issues so that we can best support you.

Use this tool to report a concern, an incident that occurred, or to make a disclosure about your own or someone else's safety and well-being.

University support

• A wide range of support services are also available to students at City.

External support for victims of stalking

• Victim Support - a 24/7 independent charity service dedicated to offering specialist and free support to victims of crime in England. Even if you haven’t reported the crime, you can still get support.
• National Stalking helpline - supporting and advising victims of stalking.
• Protection against Stalking (PAS) - providing support to victims of stalking and harassment

Please see our Additional Student Support services page for a complete list.

Reporting to local authorities

You can report a crime to the Police by calling 101 (non-emergency number) or on the Metropolitan Police website. You can also reach out to Crimestoppers, a 24/7 independent charity service that allows you to report crimes anonymously.