Live Violence Free invites community to participate in Stalking Awareness Day of Action

January 18, 2024 marks the first National Day of Action for Stalking Awareness as part of National Stalking Awareness Month (NSAM). This date commemorates the murder of Peggy Klinke at the hands of her stalker in 2003. Peggy’s sister Debbie Riddle is an anti-stalking activist who co-founded NSAM in her honor.

NSAM is an annual call to action to recognize and respond to this criminal, traumatic, and dangerous victimization.

Debbie said, “Peggy had a sparkling personality and would light up a room. As the stalking continued and continued, we saw that shine fade.” For Peggy and all victims and survivors of stalking, help Live Violence Free spark a conversation on stalking on January 18th – wear your flashiest, most sparkly clothes and accessories and post a picture using the hashtags #SparkleAgainstStalking and #NSAMDayofAction.

Too often, stalking goes unrecognized, unaddressed, and/or not responded to with the urgency it merits. Stalking increases the risk of intimate partner homicide by three times, and 1 in 5 stalkers use weapons to threaten or harm victims. Stalking is a dangerous and devastating victimization in its own right, and often intersects with physical and sexual violence. Survivors often suffer anxiety, social dysfunction, and severe depression as a result of their victimization, and many lose time from work and/or relocate. Help us raise awareness of stalking and the number of people who accurately estimate its danger and urgency. The vast majority of victims tell friends or family about their situation first, and how we respond influences whether they seek further help or not.

It takes all of us – advocacy and support services, legal systems, and victims/survivors and their friends and family – to better recognize and respond to stalking; and on January 18th, Live Violence Free invites you to join efforts across the nation to do just that. Learn more at StalkingAwareness.org.