Harassment / Online-Harassment
What is harassment? Harassment is any unwanted forms of communication, actions or patterns of behaviors that are annoying, alarming or threatening to you as an individual. Harassment is a crime.
What is online harassment? Online harassment is also a crime; it is a course of conduct directed at a person which cause emotional distress and which serves no legitimate purpose.
It may include:
- Unwanted or unsolicited e-mail.
- Disturbing messages on on-line bulletin boards.
- Unwanted or unsolicited instant messaging.
- Unsolicited comments about you in chat rooms or via on-line methods to others.
If you feel you are the victim of harassment or online harassment:
- You must FIRST advise the person who is harassing you to STOP. They must be specifically told to stop approaching you or contacting you in any form. Note the date and time that you did this.
- If you have a Facebook account, et cetera, contact these sites and advise them of the situation.
- File a police report, print copies of unwanted text messages, e-mails, et cetera are helpful for the police to include with the report.
- Log all communications or threats you have received or behaviors / actions by the individual doing the harassing to which you have been subjected.