Stalking Impacts Home Office Safety: What Remote Workplaces Can Do

Photo Credit: SPARC

The workplace has changed so much in recent years, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. More and more workplaces have allowed their employees to work hybrid or fully remote schedules. Workplaces that are experiencing these shifts must make sure that they are responsive to these changing environments. In honor of last month’s observances of National Stalking Awareness Month and Home Office Safety and Security Week, we will look into how in-person and cyber-stalking impacts remote employees and what employers should do to protect employee safety.

Sexual harassment, like other forms of harassment, compromises a person’s sense of safety, independence, and dignity. In the past, we’ve written about how harassment occurring outside office hours and office buildings can be classified as workplace harassment because of the workplace connection between perpetrator and victim. While the consideration for after-hours harassment is important, it is just as important to recognize that when an employee is working from their home, there must be an understanding of what harassment can look like on the clock and within the company’s technical infrastructure.

Cyberstalking is, “the use of communications technology to conduct acts of surveillance, make threats, and express intent to injure, harass, or intimidate victims to the point that they reasonably fear for their safety or feel significant emotional distress.” The majority of cyberstalking instances are perpetrated by the victim’s current or former intimate partner, but can also be committed by a colleague. Cyberstalking (which impacts a staggering 80% of stalking victims) consists of a variety of behaviors, including:

-Monitoring computer or phone activity, potentially facilitated by spyware

-Incessant phone calls

-Using fake profiles to communicate with the victim or observe their social media practices

-Sending threatening messages to extort the victim, whether for monetary compensation or to force the victim into maintaining/getting into an unwanted relationship with the perpetrator.

        -One type of extortion they may use is sextortion, which threatens the victim with the release of sexually explicit images of them. With the increasing access to AI, perpetrators may threaten them with deepfake pornography (sexually explicit images/videos of a victim that aren’t real).

        -Another type of extortion could be threatening to dox (share sensitive information like home address or contact information publicly) the victim.

                -Using GPS tracking (in phone apps or other devices) to uncover the victim’s physical whereabouts.

                -Secretly recording someone by hacking their smartphone or laptop camera

For survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) who have had to relocate, both their personal and professional devices need to be secure to ensure their physical and emotional safety. Physically stalking a current or former partner at their place of work is a common abusive tactic. For hybrid workers, they need to know that their location is protected. For fully-remote workers, employers should understand the importance of keeping their location and activity as confidential as possible from the public. According to the Stalking Prevention and Awareness Resource Center (SPARC), “78% of intimate partner violence offenders used workplace resources at least once to express remorse or anger, check up on, pressure, or threaten the victim.” SPARC further notes, “74% [of intimate partner violence offenders] had easy access to their intimate partner’s workplace, with 21% saying they contacted the victim at work in violation of a no-contact order.”

Workplaces should not presume that stalking, whether in-person or digitally, is only a threat from people outside of the company. Misogyny, obsession, and malicious intent can also be motivators for current and former co-workers to stalk or harass their victim. Left unchecked, stalking can manifest in real-world physical harm and endangerment. This is why it’s crucial to establish that your workplace, whether it’s remote or in-person, has a zero-tolerance policy for all types of harassment.

So, what can employers do to make their remote employees safer? Here are some tips below:

Learn the Legal Requirements

To start, get to know what the law says employers are obligated to do. Stalking is a crime, though laws may vary federally and state-by-state (especially with regard to federal and state cyber harassment law). Look into what protections are required of an employer to ensure employee safety. If employees do not see adequate support from their employer while facing this predatory behavior, they may be able to file an EEOC claim or lawsuit. The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund says the following about workplace protections for survivors:

A survivor may qualify to take unpaid job-protected leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), may qualify for protections under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), or may be entitled to protections against sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to federal protections, there may be local laws that apply to survivors, or employer policies may provide additional protections as reflected in employee handbooks or policies or union agreements.

Please review their 2024 State Guide on Employment Rights for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Stalking to learn more.

Have Tiplines and Other Reporting Resources on File

Being a victim of stalking is distressing and disorienting. For employees who don’t know where to start when trying to stay safe from their stalkers, or Human Resource departments who need to assist these employees, have these resources on hand:

–National Domestic Violence Hotline

–SPARC

–National Sexual Assault Hotline

-Local Law Enforcement Contacts

-Local Rape Crisis Center Contacts (use the RALIANCE Directory of Organizations for research)

-PEN America’s “Documenting Online Harassment” page

–Cyber Civil Rights Initiative

-Right To Be’s “Know Your Rights” page

–C.A. Goldberg, PLLC (a law firm specializing in online abuse)

–A run-down of federal cyber crimes and associated federal agencies to contact (provided by the U.S. Department of Justice)

–Local FBI field office locator

–FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

Relay Cyber Security Tips to IT Teams and Colleagues

Employers should also have their sights on prevention. Having certain cybersecurity practices and protocols in place can help make their whole workplace safer. The Training Industry has a great page detailing recommended prohibited activities to prevent cyberstalking and ways employees can detect cyberstalking activity. The Anti-Violence Project also has a fact sheet of helpful tips to look into.

Nothing should be more important to an employer than keeping their employees safe. We hope this blog serves as a starting point to our readers of an ongoing discussion about the role employers can play to protect their employees, in and out of an office building.

RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.