The Association Between Stalking and Violence in a Sample of Spanish Partner Violence Cases

The present descriptive study analyzes stalking in a sample of 278 Spanish court cases involving partner violence and contrasts the benefits of the new bill article 172ter, which criminalizes stalking, compared with the Organic Law 1/2004 on partner violence. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of the total sample included stalking behaviors, which manifested in intimidatory (60%) and controlling (45%) unwanted verbal communications (62%) and physical approaches (42%) that ended violently in a third of the cases (35%). Cases involving violent stalking, non-violent stalking, and physical violence without stalking were compared. A closer look at violent stalking cases uncovered that intimacy-seeking stalking behavior was concurrent with face-to-face aggression with a sharp object, whereas pursuit/control and invasive behavior were associated with property invasion and damage. Data not only support the contention that stalking should be criminalized regardless of the type of stalking behavior but also indicate that differences in the behavior might warrant different management interventions.