Harassment

Harassment is generally defined as unwanted, offensive, intimidating, or humiliating behavior that demeans or threatens a person. It often involves conduct that is disturbing, upsetting, or threatening, and it typically targets a person's protected characteristics such as race, gender, age, disability, or other legally protected grounds.

Key aspects of harassment include:

• Unwelcome behavior: The actions or words are not invited or accepted by the victim.
• Offensive nature: The behavior demeans, humiliates, or intimidates the person.
• Connection to protected characteristics: Harassment often relates to discrimination based on personal traits protected by law.
• Repetitiveness or severity: While harassment often involves repeated behavior (bullying), a single severe or malicious incident can also qualify as harassment.
• Context: It usually occurs in protected areas such as workplaces, schools, or public services.

Examples of harassment include verbal abuse, threats, derogatory remarks, offensive jokes, unwelcome physical contact, intimidation, and offensive visual displays.

Legally, harassment can take various forms, including workplace harassment, sexual harassment, stalking, and civil harassment, with definitions and consequences varying by jurisdiction. In employment law, harassment is recognized as a form of discrimination that affects the terms and conditions of employment.

In summary, harassment is unwanted conduct that causes distress or harm, often linked to discrimination, and can be verbal, physical, or visual in nature. It is recognized both socially and legally as behavior that infringes on a person's dignity and rights.