As part of Sexual Violence Awareness Week, a Stalking 101 lecture Tuesday provided students with information about the dangers of being stalked at Ohio State.

Stalking affects 14 out of every 1,000 people age 18 and older, said Nancy Radcliffe, a program coordinator in the Office of Student Life and a member of the Sexual Assault Response Team. Radcliffe explained the nature of stalking and how students should deal with the crime.

She defined stalking as two events occurring within a short time period: unwanted contact and subsequent mental distress. Victims can experience distress as fear or anger, and it often forces them to change their lives in some way, she said.

“Often the behavior is not threatening,” Radcliffe said. She went on to explain that even when the stalker uses romantic behavior, it can still be “creepy.”

But being annoyed is no basis for crime, said officer Anna Stephenson of the University Police and Radcliffe’s co-lecturer.

“Stalkers cause a fear that causes you to change your daily patterns,” she said.

However, on college campuses, people react to these unwanted phone calls, e-mails, social media messages or even in-person contact in different ways. And behavior is often based on gender.

“We get roughly 50 reports each year,” Stephenson said, and most of these reports come from female students.

“There is an equal amount of people stalking. Men don’t say anything because it questions their masculinity,” Stephenson said to the crowd of 20 students, consisting of only one male.

She said she was happy with the turnout.

“We just want students to be aware,” Stephenson said.

Stalking 101, and all events this week that are part of Sexual Violence Awareness Week, is designed to provide students with information about the resources OSU offers in the case of a stalking incident or any other act of sexual violence, Radcliffe said.

Both women strongly encouraged involving University Police.

Although there are many organizations within the community, contacting OSU forces the stalker not only to face the law, but also Student Judicial Affairs, Stephenson said.

“They also are more comfortable dealing with students,” Radcliffe said. “I encourage students to contact Anna.”

Stephenson agreed.

“The city of Columbus won’t send someone to talk to you about stalking,” she said. “We will.”

Information about stalking and other matters of sexual violence can be found on the Sexual Violence Education and Support website at swc.osu.edu/sexual-violence-education-and-support-sves/.