Assembly Resolution No. 26

BY: M. of A. Woerner

MEMORIALIZING Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim
January 2025, as Stalking Awareness Month in the
State of New York

WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body to recognize
official months that are set aside to increase awareness of serious
issues that affect the lives of citizens of New York State; stalking is
an issue that vastly affects citizens across the State and Nation,
causing psychological distress to those that are victims; and

WHEREAS, Stalking involves a perpetrator's use of a pattern of
harassing or threatening tactics that are both unwanted and cause fear
or safety concerns in a victim; and

WHEREAS, Victims of stalking may experience being followed in public
or at their home; receiving unwanted written, digital or verbal
communication; receiving unwanted gifts or other objects that arouse
fear and intimidation; being digitally tracked; and being verbally or
physically assaulted by their predator; and

WHEREAS, More than half of all victims of stalking indicated that
they were stalked before the age of 25, and nearly 1 in 4 by the age of
18; and

WHEREAS, In a one-year period in the United States, approximately
13.5 million people are stalked; the United States Centers for Disease
Control's National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey reported
that about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men have been stalked at some point
in their lives; and

WHEREAS, A preconceived notion may be that a stranger is typically a
stalker, however, studies show that 40% of victims are stalked by a
current or former intimate partner, 42% by an acquaintance, and 11% of
stalking victims have been experiencing their terrifying situation for 5
years or more; and

WHEREAS, Affecting their ability to go about their daily lives, 1 in
8 employed stalking victims lose time from work as a result of their
victimization and more than half lose 5 days of work or more; truly
scared for their lives in some instances, 1 in 7 individuals
experiencing stalking move as a result of their victimization; and

WHEREAS, Stalking victims suffer higher rates of mental illness,
such as depression, anxiety, insomnia, than people in the general
population and psychological distress often endures long after stalking
may have ceased; and

WHEREAS, Prevention strategies must be employed at multiple levels,
from individual to communal to societal, to promote lasting social
change; and

WHEREAS, Primary prevention education and awareness campaigns have
the potential to not only increase identification of stalking and the

appropriate response from helping professionals and the public, but when
used in a primary prevention framework, can also act as a catalyst to
change social and community norms to promote healthy and equitable
behavior; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Kathy Hochul to proclaim January 2025, as Stalking
Awareness Month in the State of New York; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Kathy Hochul, Governor of the State of New
York.