Harassment
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History
In 1964, the United States Congress passed Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, prohibting 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 guidlines 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. More specifically targeting harassment, in 1983, the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibited sexual harassment in workplaces under federal jurisdiction.
Ambiguity
Both because the term is used in common english, and because where the term is defined by law, the law varies by jurisdiction, it is difficult to provide any exact definition that is accepted everywhere. In some cultures, for instance, simply stating a political opinion can be seen as unwarranted and a deliberate attempt to intimidate - in a totalitarian society any such statement could be interpreted as an attempt to involve someone in rebel activity or implicate them in same, with the implication that if they refuse, they are putting their own life in danger. More usually, some label such as "anti-social" or related to treason is used to label such behaviour - it being treated as an offense against the state not the person. This resembles the use of psychiatry to imprison dissidents which is common in many countries. Another example is that under some versions of Islamic Law merely insulting Islam is considered to be a harassment of all believers, and in Japan insulting any faith is usually considered taboo, and has legal sanctions. There are also extreme and self-serving definitions employed by anti-defamation groups, and also more mainstream groups like NOW. Because of these variations, there is no way even within one society to provide a truly neutral definition of harassment.
Categories
However, broad categories of harassment often recognized in law include:
- Sexual harassment (with a much stricter definition in the workplace)
- Psychological harassment - repetitive unprovoked intrusions or interruptions
- Group psychological harassment? is this real? or is it propaganda?
- Hate speech - comments provably false or irrelevant which have the effect of stirring up hate towards a particular group - another legal category.