Restraining Orders

For the purposes of getting a stalking protection order, you have to be a victim of stalking, which the law defines as any of the following:

• any act of stalking as defined by law;
• any act of cyber harassment as defined by law; or
• any course of conduct involving repeated or continuing contacts, attempts to contact, monitoring, tracking, surveillance, keeping you under observation, disrupting activities in a harassing manner, or following you when all of the following are true:
  
  • it would cause a reasonable person to feel intimidated, frightened, under duress, significantly disrupted, or threatened;
  • it serves no lawful purpose; and
  • the stalker knows or reasonably should know his/her conduct threatens, frightens, or intimidates you, even if the stalker did not intend to intimidate, frighten, or threaten you.¹

Note: The judge cannot deny your order because you did not report the stalking to the police² or because you would qualify for another type of order, such as a domestic violence protection order (“DVPO”). However, the law does encourage someone being stalked by an intimate partner or family or household member to file for a DVPO instead.³ Also, the judge cannot require you to show proof of the abuser’s intentions behind his/her actions in order to grant you a stalking protection order.⁴

¹ R.C.W. § 7.105.010(34)
² R.C.W. § 7.105.225(2)(b)
³ R.C.W. § 7.105.100(5)
⁴ R.C.W. § 7.105.225(4)