Trust your gut first. Everything else comes after.
If something has been feeling off, if someone keeps showing up where you are, if messages keep coming after you have asked them to stop, if you feel watched or followed in a way you cannot quite explain, that feeling is worth taking seriously.
Stalking is one of the most underreported crimes on college campuses. Between 6 and 39 percent of college students report being stalked since entering college depending on how the behavior is defined. 18 to 24-year-olds experience the highest rates of stalking among all adults. And the majority of victims are stalked by someone they know, most commonly a former intimate partner or a fellow student.
Many victims wait. They second-guess themselves. They wonder if they are overreacting. They give it more time hoping it stops on its own. Research tells us that waiting is one of the most dangerous things a stalking victim can do.
This guide is for students who are not waiting. Here is exactly what to do.
Step 1: Recognize What Stalking Actually Looks Like
Before you can act you need to know what you are dealing with. Stalking is not always the dramatic movie version of someone lurking outside your window. More often it is a pattern of ordinary-seeming behaviors that become terrifying in context.
Common stalking behaviors include repeated unwanted phone calls and messages, showing up at places without being invited, following you between classes or to your dorm, surveillance of your social media accounts or location, spreading rumors, sending gifts after being told to stop, and threats either direct or implied.
The key word is pattern. A single unwanted message is uncomfortable. Ten unwanted messages after you have asked for contact to stop is a pattern. One unexpected appearance is awkward. Four appearances at locations you frequent is surveillance.
Stalking is legally defined as a pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or suffer substantial emotional distress. You do not have to prove intent. You do not have to wait until something violent happens. If you are afraid and there is a pattern, that is enough.
Step 2: Start Documenting Everything Immediately
This is the step most victims skip, and it is one of the most important.
From the moment you recognize something is wrong, start keeping a detailed record. Every incident. Every message. Every sighting. Every appearance at your location. Write down the date, time, location and exactly what happened for each one.
Screenshot every message, voicemail, social media interaction and any digital contact. Do not delete anything even if it feels better to. Save copies somewhere outside of your main device like a cloud folder or email to yourself.
This documentation serves two purposes. It helps campus security and law enforcement take your report seriously when you make it. And it helps you see the full pattern clearly, which is important because stalking victims often minimize individual incidents without seeing how alarming the complete picture is.
Do not wait until you have a lot of incidents to start documenting. Start now with whatever has happened so far.
Step 3: Tell Someone You Trust Right Away
Stalking is isolating by design. Many victims stay silent because they feel embarrassed, because they are not sure it is serious enough, or because they do not want to involve others in something that feels complicated.
Tell someone you trust today. A close friend, a family member, your RA, a parent. Someone who knows your daily routine and who will notice if something seems wrong.
This matters for your immediate safety because having people who are aware of the situation means someone will notice faster if something escalates. It matters practically because if you ever need to report the stalking, having witnesses who were told about incidents while they were happening strengthens your account significantly.
More than half of female stalking victims and more than a third of male survivors say they were stalked before the age of 25. You are not the first person navigating this and you do not have to navigate it alone.
Step 4: Report to Campus Resources
Your campus has resources for exactly this situation. Use them sooner rather than later.
Report to your campus Title IX office, Dean of Students office or campus security. Stalking is a crime as well as a violation of campus conduct codes and Title IX and covered under the Clery Act and the Violence Against Women Act. Your campus is required to take it seriously.
When you report, bring your documentation. Describe the pattern clearly. Ask about no-contact orders, changes to class schedules if the stalker is a fellow student, and any temporary safety accommodations your campus can make.
Many victims hesitate to report because they are not sure the behavior is serious enough yet or because they know the person and feel uncomfortable getting them in trouble. But reporting early, before escalation, gives the system the best chance to intervene effectively. Research shows that over 60 percent of stalkers will reengage in the stalking behavior even after being warned or arrested. Early reporting creates a documented record that matters if things escalate further.
Step 5: Adjust Your Routines and Digital Presence
This step feels unfair because you should not have to change your life because someone else is behaving badly. But keeping yourself safer while the situation is being addressed is practical not a concession.
Vary your routes between classes, the library and your dorm. Do not walk alone at night if you can avoid it. Let a trusted person know your schedule and expected arrival times. Check in with them when you arrive somewhere.
On your phone and social media, check what location data you are sharing and with whom. Review privacy settings on all platforms. Consider limiting who can see your location check-ins and stories. Be mindful of posting your real-time location publicly.
If the stalker is someone you know, block them on all platforms. Do not engage, explain or try to reason with them. Any response, even a negative one, can be interpreted as encouragement by a stalker. The most effective strategy is complete documented silence combined with reporting.
Step 6: Have a Fast Way to Reach Help
In situations involving stalking, having a one-tap emergency alert is not just useful. It is essential.
NauNauSOS gives you exactly that. One tap sends an instant alert to your trusted contacts letting them know something is wrong right now. No speaking required. No typing required. No navigating under pressure.
If you are walking to your dorm and you see your stalker, you do not have time to scroll through contacts and explain the situation to someone. You need one action that immediately tells the people who will help you that you need them now.
Set up NauNauSOS with your most trusted contacts, the people who know your situation, who will respond immediately and who can act on your behalf. Make sure those contacts know the context so when the alert comes through, they already understand what it means.
Student stalking victims frequently change their routines, miss activities and even consider dropping out entirely because of the impact on their daily lives. Having a fast direct connection to your support network does not eliminate that impact but it reduces the window of time between something going wrong and someone knowing about it.
Step 7: Know When to Involve Law Enforcement
If the stalking involves direct threats, physical contact, damage to your property or if you feel in immediate danger, call 911.
Do not wait to see if it escalates further before involving police. Stalking increases the risk of intimate partner homicide by three times. One in five stalkers uses weapons to threaten or harm victims. The moment you feel your physical safety is at immediate risk, that is a 911 situation not a campus report situation.
When you contact police, bring your documentation. File a formal report and ask about protective orders. Keep a copy of any report number and the names of officers you speak with.
You Are Not Overreacting
That sentence deserves its own paragraph because it is the thing most stalking victims need to hear most.
You are not overreacting. You are not being dramatic. The discomfort and fear you feel is a reasonable response to an unreasonable situation. Behaviors that seem benign to an outsider can be terrifying in context and you are the person who has the full context.
Trust what your body and your mind are telling you. Document it. Tell someone. Report it. And make sure you have a fast way to reach help built into your phone before you need it.
Download NauNauSOS free today and add your most trusted contacts right now.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. National Stalking Helpline: 1-855-4-VICTIM (1-855-484-2846) Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741
NauNauSOS. Built for students. Trusted by parents.
