Harassment

Harassment refers to a wide spectrum of offensive behavior. When the term is used in a legal sense it refers to behaviors that are found threatening or disturbing, and beyond those that are sanctioned by society. Sexual harassment refers to persistent and unwanted sexual advances, typically in the workplace, where the consequences of refusing are potentially very disadvantaging to the victim.

History

United States

In 1964, the United States Congress passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination at work on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. This later became the legal basis for early harassment law. The practice of developing workplace guidelines prohibiting harassment was pioneered in 1969, when the U.S. Department of Defense drafted a Human Goals Charter, establishing a policy of equal respect for both sexes. In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986): the U.S. Supreme Court recognized harassment suits against employers for promoting a sexually hostile work environment. In 2006, U.S.A. President George W. Bush signed a law which prohibited the transmission of annoying messages over the internet without disclosing the sender's true identity.

Canada

In 1983, the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibited sexual harassment in workplaces under federal jurisdiction.

United Kingdom

In the UK there are a number of laws protecting people from harassment including the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, and the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. For a fuller description of the laws on harassment in the UK see this page.

Ambiguity

Both because the term is used in common English, and because where the term is defined by law, the law varies by jurisdiction, it is difficult to provide any exact definition that is accepted everywhere.

In some cultures, for instance, simply stating a political opinion can be seen as unwarranted and a deliberate attempt to intimidate — in a totalitarian society any such statement could be interpreted as an attempt to involve someone in rebel activity or implicate them in same, with the implication that if they refuse, they are putting their own life in danger. More usually, some label such as "anti-social" or related to treason is used to label such behaviour — it being treated as an offense against the state not the person. This resembles the use of psychiatry to imprison dissidents which is common in many countries.

Another example is that under some versions of Islamic Law merely insulting Islam is considered to be a harassment of all believers, and in Japan insulting any faith is usually considered taboo and has legal sanctions. Because of these variations, there is no way even within one society to provide a truly neutral definition of harassment.

Categories

However, broad categories of harassment often recognized in law include:

• Legal harassment - Legal actions against an individual or a group, for example SLAPP suits.
• Sexual harassment (with a much stricter definition in the workplace)
• Psychological harassment - repetitive unprovoked intrusions or interruptions
• Group psychological harassment
• Hate speech - comments proveably false or irrelevant which express or encourage hate towards a particular group - another legal category.

Types of harassments

There are a number of harassments that fall into this category.

Bullying
Harassment that can occur on the playground, school, in the workforce or any other place. Usually physical and psychological harassing behavior perpetrated against an individual, by one or more persons.

Psychological harassment
This is humiliating or abusive behavior that lowers a person’s self-esteem or causes them torment. This can take the form of verbal comments, actions or gestures. Falling into this category is workplace mobbing.

Racial harassment
The targeting of an individual because of their race or ethnicity. The harassment's include words, deeds, and actions, that are specifically designed to make the target feel degraded due to their race of origin or ethnicity.

Religious harassment
Verbal, psychological or physical harassment's used against targets because they choose to practice a specific religion.

Sexual harassment
Harassment that can happen anywhere but is most common in the workplace, and schools. It involves unwanted and unwelcome, words, deeds, actions, gestures, symbols, or behaviors of a sexual nature that make the target feel uncomfortable. Gender and sexual orientation harassment fall into this family.

Stalking
The unauthorized following and surveillance of an individual, to the extent that the persons privacy is unacceptably intruded upon, and the victim fears for their safety.

Hazing
To persecute, harass, or torture in a deliberate, calculated, planned, manner. Typically the targeted individual is a subordinate, for example, a fraternity pledge, a first-year military cadet, or somebody who is considered 'inferior' or an 'outsider'. Hazing is illegal in many instances.

Colloquial speech

In some contexts of colloquial speech, the word "harassment" and its derivatives can mean in a playful manner "bothering". In computer gaming contexts, "harassment" might constitute provocative or annoying actions in the game. Harassment in strategy games may also mean early attacks aimed to stunt an opponent's growth of either economy or technology. In these contexts, the severity of the terminology is much less intense, and does not carry the same connotations as the legal definitions.

References

See also

• Harassment by computer
• Psychological abuse
• Psychological warfare
• Verbal abuse
• Cyber bullying
• Hazing

External links

• Workplace Bulling and Mobbing Resources
• Various forms of harassment
• Stop Hazing
• Weaver v NATFHE In the Weaver v NATFHE race discrimination case, an Industrial Tribunal upheld a union’s decision not to assist a woman lecturer who brought a case of racial harassment against a fellow worker in a college of further education because he could lose his job. The Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld the decision and extended the decision to cover complaints of sexist harassment.
• Harassment Backlash, Retaliation, and Victim-blaming