By Kayla Woody, House of Hope DVPI Prevention Specialist
EDIT: This event has been postponed due to rising COVID numbers. Find the latest information at cpnhouseofhope.com.
January is designated as National Stalking Awareness Month. At the beginning of each year, the CPN House of Hope brings education to surrounding communities about the dangers of stalking, and spreading this information is vital.
More than 6.6 million people are stalked each year in the United States. One in six women and one in 17 men have experienced stalking victimization where they felt fearful or believed that someone close to them would be harmed or killed.
This January, House of Hope will be hosting a free event for the public that will focus on the dynamics of stalking and how to work with those affected by this crime. The event will be held on January 18 at 1 p.m. and located at CPN’s North Reunion Hall. Jennifer Landhuis, director of Stalking Prevention, Awareness, and Resource Center, will be presenting at the event. Jennifer has been an advocate and educator on the issues of stalking, domestic violence and sexual assault for 24 years. She began her career working in the anti-violence field in 1997 as an advocate in a rural domestic and sexual violence shelter for 10 years, served as the director of social change at the Idaho Coalition for 10 years and has been the director of the SPARC initiative since 2018. Some of the topics that will be covered at the training are how to identify stalking behaviors, recognizing the intersection of stalking with dating violence, identifying risk factors, and applying strategies to assist victims and hold offenders accountable.
Stalking is serious, often violent, and can escalate over time.
If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, stalking, and/or sexual assault and would like more information, please contact the CPN House of Hope at 405-275-3176, visit our website at cpnhouseofhope.com, or reach out on social media at facebook.com/cpnhouseofhope.