January is Stalking Awareness Month. #SAM2021

Can we talk about media representation?

Too many of you purport to be allies & have fashion sections like "Style Stalker" or cover news stories with outrageous headlines that frame stalkers as heartbroken romantics.

For too long, the only media coverage we had around stalking was in relation to celebrities, which led to "Oh, it's because they're a super fan" reactions, which taken a step further led to the idea that a victim has done SOMETHING to warrant that level of obsession.

I've seen feminist media hot takes about Netflix's "You" that were problematic nonsense and when I brought it to their attention, they responded with snark.

The last few years has moved the marker SO far on sexual assault. But we still do a sloppy job with stalking.

The media is our #1 public educator.

I wish that wasn't true but it is.

People are not learning about healthy relationships in school, sadly. And rarely at home.

They are absorbing what the news tells them, what pop culture shows, etc.

The angle in these stories matters.

Stalking is a form of psychological torture that deserves its own attention.

But it's also a major precursor to homicide.

If you've invested in training to be responsive to sexual assault in your work, I am asking you to do the same for stalking.