Wide range of behaviours of an offensive nature
Harassment
covers a wide range of
behaviors
of
offensive
nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates, and intimidates a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral reasonableness. In the legal sense, these are behaviors that appear to be disturbing, upsetting or threatening. Traditional forms evolve from
discriminatory grounds
, and have an effect of nullifying a person's rights or impairing a person from benefiting from their rights.
[
citation needed
]
When these behaviors become repetitive, it is defined as
bullying
. The continuity or repetitiveness and the aspect of distressing, alarming or threatening may distinguish it from
insult
.
Etymology
[
edit
]
Attested in English from 1753,
[1]
harassment
derives from the English verb
harass
plus the suffix
-ment
. The verb
harass
, in turn, is a
loan word
from the French, which was already attested in 1572 meaning
torment, annoyance, bother, trouble
[2]
and later as of 1609 was also referred to
the condition of being exhausted, overtired
.
[3]
[4]
Of the French verb
harasser
itself there are the first records in a Latin to French translation of 1527 of
Thucydides
'
History of the war
that was between the
Peloponnesians
and the
Athenians
both in the countries of the Greeks and the Romans and the neighboring places wherein the translator writes
harasser
allegedly meaning
harceler
(to exhaust the enemy by repeated raids); and in the military chant Chanson du
franc archer
[5]
of 1562, where the term is referred to a gaunt
jument
(
de poil fauveau, tant maigre et harassee
: of fawn horsehair, so meagre and …) where it is supposed that the verb is used meaning
overtired
.
[6]
A hypothesis about the origin of the verb
harasser
is
harace
/
harache
, which was used in the 14th century in expressions like
courre a la harache
(to pursue) and
prendre aucun par la harache
(to take somebody under constraint).
[7]
The
Franzosisches Etymologisches Worterbuch
, a German etymological dictionary of the French language (1922?2002) compares phonetically and syntactically both
harace
and
harache
to the interjection
hare
and
haro
by alleging a pejorative and augmentative form. The latter was an exclamation indicating distress and emergency (recorded since 1180) but is also reported later in 1529 in the expression
crier haro sur
(to arise indignation over somebody).
hare
'
s use is already reported in 1204 as an order to finish public activities as fairs or markets and later (1377) still as command but referred to dogs. This dictionary suggests a relation of
haro
/
hare
with the
old lower Franconian
*hara
(here) (as by bringing a dog to heel).
[8]
While the pejorative of an exclamation and in particular of such an exclamation is theoretically possible for the first word (
harace
) and maybe phonetically plausible for
harache
, a semantic, syntactic and phonetic similarity of the verb
harasser
as used in the first popular attestation (the chant mentioned above) with the word
haras
should be kept in mind: Already in 1160
haras
indicated a group of horses constrained together for the purpose of reproduction and in 1280 it also indicated the enclosure facility itself, where those horses are constrained.
[9]
The origin itself of
harass
is thought to be the old Scandinavian
harr
with the Romanic suffix ?as, which meant
grey or dimmish horsehair
. Controversial is the etymological relation to the Arabic word for
horse
whose roman
transliteration
is
faras
.
Although the French origin of the word 'harassment' is beyond all question in the
Oxford English Dictionary
and those dictionaries basing on it, a supposed Old French verb
harer
should be the origin of the French verb
harasser
, despite the fact that this verb cannot be found in French etymologic dictionaries like that of the
Centre national de resources textuelles et lexicales
or the
Tresor de la langue francaise informatise
(see also their corresponding websites as indicated in the interlinks); since the entry further alleges a derivation from
hare
, like in the mentioned German etymological dictionary of the French language a possible misprint of
harer
=
har/ass/er
=
harasser
is plausible or cannot be excluded. In those dictionaries the relationship with
harassment
were an interpretation of the interjection
hare
as
to urge a dog to attack
, despite the fact that it should indicate a shout to come and not to go (
hare
=
hara
=
here
; cf. above).
[10]
[11]
[12]
The
American Heritage Dictionary
prudently indicates this origin only as possible.
Types
[
edit
]
Electronic
[
edit
]
Electronic harassment is the unproven belief of the use of
electromagnetic waves
to harass a victim. Psychologists have identified evidence of
auditory hallucinations
,
delusional disorders
,
[13]
or other
mental disorders
in online communities supporting those who claim to be targeted.
[14]
[15]
Landlord
[
edit
]
Landlord harassment is the willing creation, by a
landlord
or his agents, of conditions that are uncomfortable for one or more
tenants
in order to induce willing abandonment of a
rental contract
. Such a strategy is often sought because it avoids costly legal
expenses
and potential problems with
eviction
. This kind of activity is common in regions where
rent control
laws exist, but which do not allow the direct extension of rent-controlled prices from one tenancy to the subsequent tenancy, thus allowing landlords to set higher prices. Landlord harassment carries specific legal penalties in some
jurisdictions
, but enforcement can be very difficult or even impossible in many circumstances. However, when a
crime
is committed in the process and motives similar to those described above are subsequently proven in court, then those motives may be considered an
aggravating factor
in many jurisdictions, thus subjecting the offender(s) to a stiffer
sentence
.
Online
[
edit
]
Harassment directs multiple repeating obscenities and derogatory comments at specific individuals focusing, for example, on the targets' race, religion, gender, nationality, disability, or sexual orientation. This often occurs in chat rooms, through newsgroups, and by sending hate e-mail to interested parties. This may also include stealing photos of the victim and their families, doctoring these photos in offensive ways, and then posting them on social media with the aim of causing emotional distress (see
cyberbullying
,
cyberstalking
,
hate crime
,
online predator
,
Online Gender-Based Violence
, and
stalking
).
Police
[
edit
]
Unfair treatment conducted by law officials, including but not limited to
excessive force
,
profiling
,
threats
,
coercion
, and racial, ethnic, religious, gender/sexual, age, or other forms of
discrimination
.
Power
[
edit
]
Power harassment is harassment or unwelcome attention of a political nature, often occurring in the environment of a workplace including hospitals, schools and universities. It includes a range of behavior from mild irritation and annoyances to serious
abuses
which can even involve forced activity beyond the boundaries of the job description. Power harassment is considered a form of illegal
discrimination
and is a form of political and
psychological abuse
, and
bullying
.
Psychological
[
edit
]
This is humiliating, intimidating or abusive behavior which is often difficult to detect, leaving no evidence other than victim reports or complaints. This characteristically lowers a person's self-esteem or causes one to have overwhelming torment.
[18]
This can take the form of verbal comments, engineered episodes of intimidation, aggressive actions or repeated gestures. Falling into this category is workplace harassment by individuals or groups
mobbing
.
Racial
[
edit
]
The targeting of an individual because of their race or ethnicity. The harassment may include words, deeds, and actions that are specifically designed to make the target feel degraded due to their race or ethnicity.
Religious
[
edit
]
Verbal, psychological or physical harassment is used against targets because they choose to practice a specific religion. Religious harassment can also include
forced and involuntary conversions
.
[19]
[
full citation needed
]
Sexual
[
edit
]
Sexual harassment is an offensive or humiliating behavior that is related to a person's sex. It can be a subtle or overt sexual nature of a person (sexual annoyance,
[20]
[21]
e.g. flirting, expression of sexuality, etc.) that results in wrong communication or miscommunication, implied sexual conditions of a job (sexual coercion, etc.). It includes unwanted and unwelcome words, facial expressions, sexual attention, deeds, actions, symbols, or behaviors of a sexual nature that make the target feel uncomfortable. This can involve visual or suggestive looks or comments, staring at a person's body, or the showing of inappropriate photos.
[22]
It can happen anywhere, but is most common in the
workplace
,
schools
, and the
military
. Even if certain civility codes were relevant in the past, the changing cultural norms calls for policies to avoid intentional fallacies between sexes and among same sexes. Women are substantially more likely to be affected than men.
[23]
[24]
The main focus of groups working against sexual harassment has been the protection of women, but in recent years awareness has grown of the need to protect LGBTQ (for right of gender expression), transgender women and men.
Workplace
[
edit
]
Workplace harassment is the offensive, belittling or threatening behavior directed at an individual worker or a group of workers.
[25]
Workplace harassment can be verbal, physical, sexual, racial, or bullying.
[26]
Recently, matters of
workplace
harassment have gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the most sensitive areas of effective workplace management. In some East Asian countries, it has attracted substantial attention from researchers and governments since the 1980s, because aggressive behaviors have become a significant source of work stress, as reported by employees.
[27]
Under
occupational health and safety
laws around the world,
[28]
workplace harassment and
workplace bullying
are identified as being core psychosocial hazards.
[29]
Laws
[
edit
]
United States
[
edit
]
Harassment, under the laws of the United States, is defined as any repeated or continuing uninvited contact that serves no useful purpose beyond creating alarm, annoyance, or emotional distress.
[
citation needed
]
In 1964, the United States Congress passed Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act
which prohibited discrimination at work on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and sex. This later became the legal basis for early harassment law. The practice of developing workplace guidelines prohibiting harassment was pioneered in 1969, when the U.S. Department of Defense drafted a Human Goals Charter, establishing a policy of equal respect for both sexes. In
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson
,
477
U.S.
57
(1986): the U.S. Supreme Court recognized harassment suits against employers for promoting a sexually
hostile work environment
. In 2006, President
George W. Bush
signed a law which prohibited the transmission of annoying messages over the
Internet
(
aka
spamming
) without disclosing the sender's true identity.
[30]
An important standard in U.S. federal harassment law is that to be unlawful, the offending behavior either must be "severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive," or that enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment; e.g. if the employee is fired or threatened with firing upon reporting the conduct.
[31]
New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination ("LAD")
[
edit
]
The LAD prohibits employers from discriminating in any job-related action, including recruitment, interviewing, hiring, promotions, discharge, compensation and the terms, conditions and privileges of employment on the basis of any of the law's specified protected categories. These protected categories are race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy and sexual harassment), marital status, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, liability for military service, or mental or physical disability, including
HIV/AIDS
and related illnesses. The LAD prohibits intentional discrimination based on any of these characteristics. Intentional discrimination may take the form of differential treatment or statements and conduct that reflect discriminatory animus or bias.
Canada
[
edit
]
In 1984, the
Canadian Human Rights Act
prohibited sexual harassment in workplaces under federal jurisdiction.
United Kingdom
[
edit
]
In the UK, there are a number of laws protecting people from harassment, including the
Protection from Harassment Act 1997
and the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Oxford English Dictionary
(online ed.). Oxford University Press
. Retrieved
20 March
2021
.
- ^
J. Amyot, Œuvres morales, p. 181
- ^
M. Lescarbot, Histoire de la Nouvelle France, I, 479
- ^
Etymology of
harassement
in the French etymologic dictionary CNRTL (in French)
- ^
The original
text
of the chant
- ^
Etymology of
harasser
in the French etymologic dictionary
CNRTL
(in French)
- ^
"Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales"
. Cnrtl.fr
. Retrieved
22 July
2013
.
- ^
Etymology of
haro
- ^
Etymology of
haras
- ^
"Harassment - Define Harassment at Dictionary.com"
.
Dictionary.com
.
- ^
"Online Etymology Dictionary"
.
etymonline.com
.
- ^
"Harass - Definition of harass by Merriam-Webster"
.
merriam-webster.com
.
- ^
Monroe, Angela (12 November 2012).
"Electronic Harassment: Voices in My Mind"
.
KMIR News
. Archived from
the original
on 13 February 2014
. Retrieved
25 February
2014
.
- ^
Weinberger, Sharon (14 January 2007).
"Mind Games"
.
Washington Post
. Retrieved
12 January
2014
.
- ^
Olga Pochechueva.
EMR Deliberately Directed At You
? Moscow: LOOM Publishing, 2015 (in Russian). ? 30 p.
?
ISBN
978-5-906072-09-2
- ^
Hertz, M. F.; David-Ferdon, C. (2008).
Electronic Media and Youth Violence: A CDC Issue Brief for Educators and Caregivers
(PDF)
. Atlanta (GA):
Centers for Disease Control
. p. 9. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 26 September 2018
. Retrieved
3 February
2015
.
- ^
Ybarra, Michele L.; Diener-West, Marie; Leaf, Philip J. (December 2007).
"Examining the overlap in internet harassment and school bullying: implications for school intervention"
.
Journal of Adolescent Health
.
41
(6 Suppl 1): S42?S50.
doi
:
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.004
.
PMID
18047944
.
- ^
Annette B. Roter (26 June 2017).
Understanding and Recognizing Dysfunctional Leadership: The Impact of Dysfunctional Leadership on Organizations and Followers
. Taylor & Francis. p. 161.
ISBN
978-1-317-00517-9
.
- ^
Religious terrorism
- ^
D., Woods, James (1993).
The corporate closet : the professional lives of gay men in America
. The Free Press. pp. 33+.
ISBN
0-02-935603-2
.
OCLC
28183364
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Hearn, Jeff; Parkin, Wendy (1995).
Sex at Work: The Power and Paradox of Organisation Sexuality
. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 42+.
ISBN
978-0-312-12957-6
.
- ^
Kahsay, Woldegebriel Gebregziabher; Negarandeh, Reza; Dehghan Nayeri, Nahid; Hasanpour, Marzieh (13 July 2020).
"Sexual harassment against female nurses: a systematic review"
.
BMC Nursing
.
19
(1): 58.
doi
:
10.1186/s12912-020-00450-w
.
ISSN
1472-6955
.
PMC
7324991
.
PMID
32612455
.
- ^
Maeve Duggan. PEW Research Center. 2014. "Online Harassment". "
http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/10/22/online-harassment/
".
- ^
"EEOC Home Page"
.
www.eeoc.gov
. Retrieved
29 April
2016
.
- ^
"Maintaining a harassment-free workplace"
. Archived from
the original
on 28 March 2012
. Retrieved
14 April
2014
.
- ^
Harthi, Moussa; Olayan, Mohammed; Abugad, Hassan; Abdel Wahab, Moataza (1 December 2020).
"Workplace violence among health-care workers in emergency departments of public hospitals in Dammam, Saudi Arabia"
.
Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal
.
26
(12): 1473?1481.
doi
:
10.26719/emhj.20.069
.
ISSN
1020-3397
.
PMID
33355386
.
S2CID
226429852
.
- ^
Tehrani, N. (2004), Bullying: A source of chronic post traumatic stress? British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 32 (3), 357- 366
- ^
Concha-Barrientos, M., Imel, N.D., Driscoll, T., Steenland, N.K., Punnett, L., Fingerhut, M.A., Pruss-Ustun, A., Leigh, J., Tak, S.W., Corvalan, C. (2004). Selected occupational risk factors. In M. Ezzati, A.D. Lopez, A. Rodgers & C.J.L. Murray (Eds.), Comparative Quantification of Health Risks. Geneva: World Health Organization.
- ^
"11. Psychosocial hazards"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 7 March 2014
. Retrieved
7 March
2014
.
- ^
McCullagh, Declan
(9 January 2006).
"Create an e-annoyance, go to jail"
.
CNET news
. Archived from
the original
on 15 March 2007.
- ^
"Harassment"
.
www.eeoc.gov
. Retrieved
6 June
2019
.
External links
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]
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Forms
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Attributes
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Social
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Religious
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Ethnic/
National
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Manifestations
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Discriminatory
policies
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Countermeasures
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Related topics
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