OVER a third of stalking victims are now targeted online as the internet leaves them with nowhere to hide, according to a major study published yesterday.

Nearly one in five British women and one in 12 men have suffered repeated and unwanted contact or intrusive behaviour which causes them fear or distress, survey respondents said.

Among those, almost 40 per cent were stalked using online methods, the research commissioned by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust showed.

“New methods of communication mean stalking online is something you can never get away from,” said forensic psychiatrist Dr David James, who worked on the study.

“In effect, you carry the stalker ‘in your pocket’ in the form of any mobile phone. This can be especially traumatising for victims.”

The trust said that respondents who suggested they had been “cyber-stalked” indicated that stalkers used a range of social media and web platforms.

Victims are being driven to disconnect from the internet by their tormentors — over a fifth of all those who said they had been stalked had withdrawn from some form of online activity or social media.