What is Harassment? |
Why does this matter? |
Harassment, by definition, is aggressive pressure or intimidation. Harassment can take many forms and isn't exclusive to touching someone inappropriately. Women can and do experience many of these types of harassment including bullying, sexual, personal, racial, stalking, and cat-calling. Harassment, however, is not exclusive to women and can happen to anyone.
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Though glorified and often seen as a harmless joke in modern society, even the slightest exhibition of harassment can be terrifying and life-changing for a woman. Harassment is an issue that needs to be taken more seriously in the world but because of many of these so-called "jokes" and "social experiments," it isn't.
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Every single day, millions of women are called out on the street by random men hoping to have a shot with them. These outbursts and expressions are unwelcome and often unflattering. Sometimes when their catcall isn't successful, the men will then turn to verbally attacking and harassing the woman about her race, personal appearance, and many other things.
What counts as harassment?Harassment is aggressive behavior that is undesired and unprompted by who is being given attention. If you have to question whether or not you're harassing someone or are exhibiting any of the behaviors listed below, you're most likely harassing someone. In this case, stop and apologize immediately.
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Throughout media, harassment of women is taken lightly, there are vines and instagram video’s that bloggers post of men going up to random women touching them inappropriately as a joke, and these types of media are looked at as comical and entertaining by many, not what they truly are, harassment. Nowadays, men are glorified for cat calling and “catching a feel” up a girls skirt. In commercials one can see the classic construction worker, whistling at a women walking down the street, but the media is forgetting that to women, this is not funny or entertaining, it is degrading and scary.
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Types of harassment
Sexual |
Personal |
Sexual harassment usually occurs in the workplace or at schools. It involves unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal and physical harassment of the sexual nature. To find out more, visit this website.
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Personal harassment is humiliating or intimidating an individual through malicious gestures, threats and bullying, taunting, assault, gossip, slander, and insults. Find out more here.
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Racial |
Stalking |
Racial harassment is a type of harassment suffered by someone because of their color, race, or ethnicity. This harassment can be both physical or verbal, and can be constituted by any incident the victim deems to be racially motivated.
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Stalking is a repeated pattern of behavior that includes but is not limited to when someone contacts you, follows you, threatens you, or talks to you without your wanting them to. These behaviors can be repeated text messages, damaging property, and showing up at places you are.
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