What is Harassment?
Harassment is when someone repeatedly behaves in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, scared, or threatened. It can include behaviours including constant messaging, turning up where you are unannounced, shouting or pestering you when they see you or trying to get to you through your friends. Harassment may not always seem unkind but could manifest as an obsession for you, it may include unwanted gifting or always finding excuses to talk to you.
Harassment is when someone repeatedly behaves in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, scared, or threatened. It can include behaviours including constant messaging, turning up where you are unannounced, shouting or pestering you when they see you or trying to get to you through your friends. Harassment may not always seem unkind but could manifest as an obsession for you, it may include unwanted gifting or always finding excuses to talk to you.
A one-off incident can be harassment if the unwanted behaviour or conduct has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment because of, or connected to, one or more of the following protected characteristics:
i) age
ii) disability
iii) gender reassignment
iv) race
v) religion or belief
vi) sex
vii) sexual orientation
Harassment can be distressing and feel as though you are receiving repeated and constant unwanted attention. Harassment may present in many ways including but not limited to:
- Messages
- Phone calls
- Notes or letters
- Stalking
- Verbal abuse/shouting
- Personal visits/unannounced appearances
If you are worried about harassment, you can make a Report + Support submission to speak with one of our friendly support advisors.
What is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual Harassment is a type of harassment. Sexual harassment is behaviour characterized by the making of unwelcome and inappropriate sexual remarks or physical advances.
Sexual harassment is unlawful, as a form of discrimination, under the Equality Act 2010.
The Act says sexual harassment constitutes unwanted behaviour that violates your dignity, creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment (this includes the digital environment, online)
Some examples of sexual harassment would include:
- sexual comments, jokes or gestures
- staring or leering at your body
- using derogatory language with sexualised connotations
- unwanted sexual communications, like emails, texts, DMs
How does the Office for Students define Harassment?
The Office for Students defines Harassment (as defined by Section 26 of the Equality Act 2010) and includes:
b) unwanted behaviour or conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment because of, or connected to, one or more of the following protected characteristics:
i) age
ii) disability
iii) gender reassignment
iv) race
v) religion or belief
vi) sex
vii) sexual orientation
c) Under our definition, we understand harassment to include domestic violence and abuse (which can also involve control, coercion, threats), and stalking.
d) We would also consider harassment to include any incidents of physical violence towards another person(s) on the basis of a protected characteristic, and hate crimes, such as those criminal offences which are perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on a person's disability or perceived disability; race or perceived race; or religion or perceived religion; or sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation or transgender identity or perceived transgender identity.
You can read Canterbury Christ Church University’s Student Prevention of Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy here
For more information and to find out more about using Report and Support, please take a look at these pages.