Harassment - What It Is and What To Do About It
Personal Harassment is defined as any behaviour which is unacceptable to the recipient and which creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for employment, study or social life. Although harassment is often thought of as an overt use of power, it can also appear in more subtle guises.
The following points are important.
- Anyone can suffer from harassment.
- An action or statement does not have to be repeated over a long period of time to be defined as harassment. A single statement or action may constitute harassment.
- Even behaviour which is not meant to cause offence or distress may do so.
- It is the impact of the words or action, not the underlying intent which is important.
- Health, physical characteristics, personal beliefs and numerous other factors may lead to harassment.
- Harassment can occur between people of the opposite sex or between people of the same sex.
- Differences of culture, language and attitude, or misinterpretation of social signals may mean that what is perceived as offensive behaviour or language by one person may not seem so to another.
It is difficult to categorise all forms of harassment, but examples of some more easily recognisable forms of harassment are listed below.
Sexual Harassment
A form of sex discrimination, it involves unwanted sexual attention which emphasises sexual status over a person's individual status.
Some examples of sexual harassment are -
- Remarks, looks, jokes, use of offensive language, alluding to a person's private life or sexual orientation by innuendo, or remarks about a person's appearance.
- Making provocative suggestions or pressing people to accept unwelcome invitations.
- The display of suggestive or pornographic material.
- Deliberate physical contact, to which the individual has not consented or had the opportunity to object to.
Racial Harassment
A form of racial discrimination, involving offensive behaviour by a person or group of one racial or ethnic origin against a person or group of another.
Examples of racial harassment include -
- Derogatory name-calling.
- Insults and racist jokes.
- Ridicule of an individual for cultural differences.
- Exclusion from everyday conversation or social events.
- Unfair allocation of work and responsibilities because of racial or ethnic origin.
- Display of offensive, racist material.
Other Forms of Personal Harassment
Harassment may take many forms and people can be subject to harassment on a variety of grounds including sexual orientation, religious or political convictions, age, real or suspected infection with AIDS/HIV, or disability.
Examples include -
- Gibes in reference to personal traits or appearance, invasion of privacy or practical jokes which cause offence
- Academic bullying - asserting a position of intellectual superiority in an aggressive, abusive or offensive manner, threats of academic failure, public sarcasm
Any difficulty in defining personal harassment should not deter a member of staff or student from seeking support or complaining of behaviour which causes them offence or distress.
What To Do Next
If you believe you are being subjected to harassment of any form, you do not have to feel it is your fault and you do not have to tolerate it. Any employee or student who suffers from harassment from any individual or group in the course of their work or study will have the support of the University in seeking to ensure that harassment ceases. There are various ways in which an individual can deal with harassment, ranging from asking the person to stop to taking up a formal complaint.
The Personal Harassment Network members have received training in the Harassment Policy and Procedures and are available to provide advice and information on a confidential basis to any member of the University community who feel (s)he is being harassed.
Informal Procedure
- If possible you should speak to the alleged harasser yourself, making it clear that his/her behaviour is unacceptable and you wish it to stop. In many cases such an approach is successful and the harassment ceases.
- You may wish to seek help or advice from a friend or sympathetic colleague or from someone in authority whom you feel able to talk to and who may also accompany you to meetings. This might be your Head of Department, Union representative, Union of Students' Sabbatical Officer or the Student Advice Centre.
- You can request a confidential meeting with a member of the University Harassment Network who has been trained to handle problems relating to personal harassment and who will be able to listen and advise you. A list of Network members is available from the Student Advice Centre, Academic Departments, Student Services Information Desk, Human Resources or Counselling Service.
Whilst many situations can be resolved at an informal level, formal action can be taken if the above stages fail to be effective in stopping the harassment or where the behaviour is of such a serious nature that informal measures would be inappropriate.
Formal Procedure
- Ask for a confidential interview with your Head of Department or with any person from the University Harassment Network. They will listen to you in confidence and give you advice on how to proceed.
- All formal complaints of harassment should, wherever possible, be raised by the complainant with the Head of Department. S/he will consider the nature of the claim, make initial enquiries and take any action deemed appropriate. If discussion with the Head of Department is not possible, or is inappropriate, you should seek advice from a member of the Personal Harassment Network, Human Resources (for staff), or the Department of Student Services (for students).