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Harassing behavior is anything found to be unwelcome, unwanted, and uninvited, resulting in a hostile atmosphere for a victim. The offense can be a severe one-time occurrence, or it can be repeated incidents that mean to demean, offend or threaten in some way.
Industries participate in sexual harassment prevention training in an effort to make employees aware and stop the actions along with other forms of the behavior in the workplace. It can be prevalent on the work front, but that’s not the only place individuals can be harassed.
You can be the victim at home by a neighbor, on the social scene by friends’ friends, or while driving in your car with someone stalking you. The act is a crime with the accused facing jail time based on documentation and conviction.
There needs to be an intention for the accusation to stick, but this can be proven if you ask them to stop and they fail to do so. Fortunately, you can do this in a few ways other than in person allowing for safety and security. Let’s look at ways you can handle a harasser without bringing harm to yourself.
How To Deal With Harassment When Training Is Ineffective
Everyone knows that all people go through harassment training in the work environment, meaning there’s no excuse why anyone should engage in poor behavior either in or outside the office if they follow the protocol.
It’s a simple matter of treating people as you want to be treated. However, some individuals ignore common courtesy rules whether on the job or off, resulting in mistreatment of coworkers and others.
As a victim, you need to tell the person to stop in order to prove intent and potentially get a conviction in the court system or possibly get protection from the civil court system. And if they have committed a violation of protective order defense, seek legal help as there will be a punishment awaiting.
Learn how to deal with someone harassing you at https://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Someone-Who-is-Harashing-You/.
Fortunately, you don’t need to do this in person. Instead, you can rely on the police or the court system to help you. That is the most effective process for stopping harassment, and you can act right away, or perhaps you followed methods meant to resolve the issue, but these were unsuccessful. Some things to try:
- Contact either 911 or the police
If the harassment has gotten out of control to the point, it’s become an emergent situation, contact 911 for immediate assistance. Otherwise, reach out to the police if there is a threat to your well-being.
Whenever you’re uncertain if you’re safe, reach out to the police. If you have a restraining order against your harasser, the police need to be contacted to enforce it.
There is the potential for other laws to be broken, and with the police on the case, they can put in an arrest warrant.
- Harassment letter to cease and desist
A first step to getting a person harassing you to stop the behavior is to send a “cease and desist” letter if you don’t believe there is imminent danger. You want to retain copies of the document for your own records. These letters boast one of the most powerful and influential documents in stopping harassing behavior.
When you tell someone to stop harassing you in writing, the record becomes an official document that says “no” in no uncertain terms. The document might not be a legally enforceable piece of paper, but it is proof that you rejected the actions taking place for court records.
- Documentation is essential
You will be responsible for developing a file of documents to present for a legal case. That means you should start a journal or log composing each episode of harassment and when the harasser contacted you, including the time and date.
You should document the event immediately following the occurrence to avoid any misstep in the information. Accurate, clear proof helps to get the behavior to stop.
You can back this up with all the emails and texts that might have been forwarded to you along with any screenshots or photos available; voicemails or recordings are also excellent to have in your file. If you have witnesses to incidents, take contact information and names so they can serve in your favor at some point. See here a few actions you can take against a person harassing you.
Final Thought
An excellent step you can take if need be is to obtain a restraining order that also references a no-contact or order of protection. This document is legally enforceable, stopping the harasser from continuing the threatening behavior.
The court system will grant the paperwork with the police making sure the document is enforced. How you choose to serve will vary depending on your particular state, but once it is received, it is effective.
The judge will determine the specifics of the order according to the harasser’s actions, with most needing to stay a distance away from their victim. It will also significantly restrict the method by which they can enact their offenses, the purpose, and the times they intend to do so.
When you need to control the actions of a harasser, this is probably the ideal way to get them to stop.
You may also like: 5 Useful Tips to Deal with Sexual Harassment at Work
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