History

• The legal basis for harassment laws originated with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination in the workplace based on race, religion, age or sex. The first workplace guidelines to prohibit harassment were put into effect in 1969. The U.S. Department of Defense created the Human Goals Charter, which promoted equal rights and respect for men and women. In 1986, the first harassment lawsuits against employers were recognized.
  
  

Types

• There are many different types of harassment, and many are unlawful. Bullying is a form of harassment that is defined as physical and psychological behavior inflicted on an individual. Psychological harassment, while a part of bullying, is also a form of harassment on its own. It can be defined as abusive behavior or humiliation that torments and lowers an individual's self esteem.
  Racial harassment is the targeting and tormenting of people based solely on their race. This can include harmful words, deeds or actions that specifically target a person's ethnicity. Religious harassment is similar to racial harassment, but individuals are targeted based on their religious beliefs.
  Sexual harassment is perhaps the most commonly known type of harassment. It includes unwanted sexual advances such as words, actions and gestures that are used to make a person feel uncomfortable. Sexual orientation harassment and gender harassment also fall into this category.
  
  

Features

• Harassment is typically used to upset or disrupt a person's life. Derogatory words, sexual gestures, physical abuse, stalking, hazing and repeated unwanted advances are all forms of harassing behavior. Harassment is a crime, and the punishment depends upon the severity and type of the behavior.
  
  

Considerations

• In some contexts, the word "harassment" can mean a playful type of irritating or bothering. In computer gaming, for example, harassment can mean annoying actions taken in the game environment. In strategy games, it can simply mean taking early attacks to disrupt another player's progress. In these contexts, harassment does not carry the same serious weight that it does in typical legal terms.
  
  

Warning

• Different cultures have various interpretations of harassment. Because of the nature of the crime and the fact that local law defines harassment, it is impossible to provide a definition that is accepted everywhere. In some places, speaking out against a political campaign can be seen as a threat to society and a form of harassment. In some religious circles, criticism of religious beliefs or officials can be considered harassment against its practitioners. Because of these varying beliefs, a neutral definition of harassment can never be reached.