We’ve seen Kanye-type behavior before, Annie tells Jezebel

These days, using technology and social media as weapons to harass someone – or even destroy their life – is fairly uncomplicated. We consistently see in our work that, in abusive relationships, if a victim leaves the abuser suddenly feels a loss of control and the reaction can be aggressive, threatening, coercive, or violent. And we know that stalkers thrive off of their targets’ suffering and disruption to their lives. They want to control, influence, or intimidate victims and they achieve this through harassment, monitoring, threats, doxing, blackmail, defamation, slander, non-consensual pornography, and surveillance.

“Targets of this type of abuse know that once they physically separate themselves, they’re still going to be the subject and target of the ex partner’s obsession.”

 Kanye West’s recent behavior towards his ex Kim Kardashian has raised red flags for advocates like us. And the media outlets making light of it, as if Kim is ‘fair game’, are further disturbing.

“This situation is being treated as celebrity spectacle or like your typical Kardashian drama, but the behaviors are really familiar to us because of how much it mirrors real-life examples that we deal with in our law practice all of the time,” C.A. Goldberg attorney Annie Seifullah, told Jezebel in their coverage of Kanye’s concerning behaviors.

“Targets of this type of abuse know that once they physically separate themselves, they’re still going to be the subject and target of the ex partner’s obsession. And when the abusive ex partner no longer has like a physical or emotional control of the victim because they have left the situation, the ex partner often resorts to causing havoc around their target in order to maintain power and control even after they’ve left their relationship.”

Seifullah explained that while stalking via the internet is sometimes called cyber stalking, it’s very much still stalking.

“Just because the abuser is using technology or using other people or impersonating accounts to continue to contact and menace, annoy, harass the target, it doesn’t make it any less scary or intrusive,” Seifullah said. “In fact, sometimes it makes it more scary and intrusive because a victim can actually physically escape the person, but they are still sort of caught up in the mess or the drama or the unwanted contacts that the abuser or ex-partner is attempting to use in order to maintain control over them.”

Stalking is a crime in all states and just because you’re a social media influencer, or you act in movies, own companies, or win at the ballot box, it doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to privacy and safety.

We’ve represented high-profile figures from business leaders to well-known actors dealing with online abuse and harassment, including attacks by vindictive exes and obsessive superfans. In fact, one of our law firm’s first cases was related to the threatened release and nonconsensual publication of a famous icon’s sex tape and provided commentary to various media outlets when, in August 2014, sexual images of over 100 celebrities were released without their consent.

You don’t have to have the resources of a celebrity to protect yourself. Our team can help you make a safety plan before you leave. And we can help you get an order of protection to stop your abuser from ongoing stalking and harassment. Or we can help you sue your abuser in court for the damage they have caused you.

If you are planning on leaving an abuser, you’ll want to think about the friends and family who can help, where you could go, how you could leave, getting together your personal belongings, changing your phone number, opening a bank account or credit card, ensuring your devices are not being tracked, changing your passwords and adjusting your privacy settings on social media to avoid being monitored, communicating with work, installing strong locks and security systems, changing your routine. We can help plan for your safety.

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