Families First hopes a Thursday event will bring more awareness to stalking.
“Making the Invisible Visible” is from 6-8 p.m. at San Jose Restaurant in Whiteville. The bar outreach event will feature insights and information about stalking and raise awareness in the community. January is Stalking Awareness Month.
Stalking is defined as unwanted following or watching of a victim, tracking a victim using GPS without their consent, unwanted phone calls, texts or other messages, or inappropriate gifts.
National surveys show roughly one in three women and one in three men are stalked in their lifetimes. More than 58 percent of stalking victims are female, with most starting as minors.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that stalking can also lead to violence, with 69 percent of female victims and 80 percent of male victims reporting threats of physical violence from someone who was stalking them. Stalking plays a role in roughly 25 percent of violence by active or former intimate partners.
For more information, call Families First at 910.642.5996.
