Stalking - the Portuguese Case: Discursive Constructions of Stalking and Their Implications

Abstract

Sara, a 20-years-old college student, was a volunteer for the fire-fighting squad of her small village in the Portuguese countryside. José, a 29-year- old fire fighter, worked in the same fire brigade as Sara. José once told Sara that he was in love with her and subsequently pursued her everywhere. He appeared at her college campus and in front of her house. He followed her by car. He sent her hundreds of text messages and mails each week. He wrote on the front wall of her house that she was his only love and that his love would last forever (although he didn’t sign this graffiti). Sara avoided direct contact with José at first because she didn’t know how to say that she was not interested in him. Then Sara told him explicitly to stop pursuing her. Gradually she became fearful to be alone at home or to walk alone in the street. When she told her colleagues in the fire brigade about the pursuit they laughed and said, ‘love is persistent’. They suggested that maybe Sara would fall in love with José after a while: ‘be patient’, they said. When Sara went to the police station, the officers listened very carefully to everything that Sara told and then concluded that she shouldn’t feel scared. Instead, they said, she should feel flattered. A formal complaint was not accepted and Sara was sent home. She felt helpless.