O Stalking na violência entre parceiros íntimos: a perspectiva das vítimas

Abstract

Stalking, know in Portuguese as persistent harassment, shows itself as a kind of interpersonal violence characterized by means of contact, harassment and persistent pursuit. Existing in every social context, his occurrence is predominant in relations of intimacy, being the woman his primary victim. In this light, the present study tried to investigate, utilizing semi-structured interviews, the occurrence of stalking in women victims of Violence between Intimate Partners (VIP) who sought help in a specialized police station for women (Delegacia de Atendimento Especializado à Mulher). Among the violent behaviors are observed 3 (10%) attempts of murder, 5 (16.6%) fractures and 16 (53.3%) death threats. Among the characteristic stalking behavior are observed behavioral control, like the preventing of doing or owning things by the victim, in 19 cases (63.3%), pursuit and harassment in the workplace in 8 (26,6%) cases, insistent telephone contact in 11 (36,6%) cases and monitoring by social network and cell phone messages in 18 (60%) cases. The great variety of strategies used by the stalkers to control, pursuit and harass the victims shows that stalking is characterized by the occurrence of a varied set of behaviors, not just isolated actions, demonstrating the difficult situation of the aggressor for coming to terms with the end of his relationship and to keep distance of his ex-partner in some cases. This exhibit the importance of bringing to light and recognize the stalking in these contexts in a way that could help foment the discussion of this phenomena in the scientific circle.