Check what you can do about harassment
This advice applies to Scotland. See advice for See advice for England, See advice for Northern Ireland, See advice for Wales
If you’ve experienced harassment, there are things you can do to make it stop. You can also take other action - for example, you might be able to get an apology or compensation.
You should start by checking if the harassment was discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. If it was discrimination, you have legal rights that will help you fix the situation.
If what you experienced wasn’t discrimination, you can still take action. For example, you might still be able to take the person who harassed you to court.
If your partner or family member makes you feel anxious or threatened
Contact a domestic abuse organisation to check what services are available.
Check if the harassment was discrimination
The harassment you experienced might have been discrimination under the Equality Act. You’ll need to check if:
the person who harassed you is liable under the Equality Act
you were harassed because of things like your age or race - these things are called ‘protected characteristics’
what happened is harassment under the Equality Act
Check if the person is liable under the Equality Act
The Equality Act only covers harassment in some situations. For example if someone harasses you in a park or shouts at you from their car, it won’t usually be discrimination under the Equality Act.
The harassment you experienced was discrimination under the Equality Act if it was done by:
your employer
your school, college or university
a business or service provider, like a shop or a train company
a health or care provider, like a hospital or care home
a landlord or estate agent
public authorities, for example the police or your local council
If someone who works for one of these organisations harasses you, the organisation is also responsible for the discrimination. For example if your colleague harasses you, your colleague and your employer are both legally responsible.
If you’re using a business or service and another customer harasses you, it isn’t usually discrimination. It might be discrimination if the customer keeps harassing you and the business or service knows about it but doesn’t stop them.
Check if it was because of a protected characteristic
The harassment you experienced was discrimination under the Equality Act if it was related to one of these protected characteristics:
age
disability
race
religion or philosophical beliefs - for example, humanism
sex
sexuality
gender reassignment - this means if you’re transgender
If you've experienced sexual harassment
Sexual harassment can be unlawful discrimination - it doesn’t have to be connected to a protected characteristic.
You might have experienced sexual harassment if someone’s behaviour was unwanted and sexual in nature, for example if they:
commented on your clothes or appearance
sent messages with sexual content or made sexual comments - even if they weren’t about you
Sometimes sexual harassment is connected to a protected characteristic, even though it doesn’t have to be for it to count as unlawful discrimination. For example, someone’s behaviour might be sexual in nature as well as racist or homophobic.
Leo is gay and recently started renting a flat. His new landlord makes comments about Leo’s sexuality and asks him questions about his sex life.
The landlord is making inappropriate comments of a sexual nature - they’re also connected to Leo’s protected characteristic of sexuality.
If someone made a mistake about your protected characteristic
It’s also discrimination if someone harassed you because they think you have a protected characteristic. For example, it’s discrimination if you and your housemate are straight but your landlord made offensive jokes about you being gay. This is called ‘discrimination by perception’.
If you’ve been harassed because of someone else’s protected characteristic
If someone harassed you because of the protected characteristic of a person you know, it’s also discrimination. For example, it’s discrimination if you told your colleague that your partner was disabled and they started making upsetting comments about people with that disability. This is called ‘discrimination by association’.
Check if what happened is harassment under the Equality Act
The harassment you experienced was discrimination under the Equality Act if both the following apply:
you didn’t want it to happen
you were scared, humiliated or offended - or the person was trying to make you feel that way
Harassment can include things like verbal abuse, bullying, jokes, making faces and posting comments about you on social media. It also includes sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment can include things like commenting on your clothes or appearance, sending you messages with sexual content or making sexual comments - even if they’re not about you. For example, it’s sexual harassment if you find out your colleagues are sharing offensive sexual jokes in a WhatsApp group.
It’s also harassment if someone treats you worse because of your reaction to:
sexual harassment
sexist or transphobic harassment
Cara's landlord tries to flirt with her and kiss her, which makes her feel very uncomfortable and embarrassed. This is harassment.
Afterwards, her landlord stops doing repairs on her house. This is also harassment. It's harassment whether Cara told her landlord to stop or let him kiss her.
If the harassment was discrimination
The action you should take depends on who harassed you.
If it was your employer
You can check what to do if you’ve been discriminated against by your employer or at work.
If you’re not sure if you’ve experienced discrimination, check if your problem at work is discrimination.
If you're a woman experiencing sexual harassment at work
You can get free information and advice from the Scottish Women's Rights Centre. Check how to contact the Scottish Women's Rights Centre helpline on their website.
If it was your school, college or university
If it was a business or service
If it was a health or care service
If it was a landlord or estate agent
You can check how to complain if you’ve been discriminated against by your landlord or estate agent.
If you’ve complained and you haven’t got the result you want, check how to take legal action about discrimination in housing.
If it was a public authority
Get more help
If you’re still not sure if you’ve experienced discrimination or what action you should take, contact the Equality and Advisory Support Service’s discrimination helpline.
If what you experienced wasn’t discrimination
If you’ve been harassed and it’s not discrimination under the Equality Act, you might be able to take a different type of action.
You can check what to do if:
If you’re being harassed online, you can get advice about protecting yourself on social media on the Police Scotland website.
If you’re worried about stalking, the National Stalking Helpline can give you help and advice about what to do. Contact the National Stalking Helpline on their website.
You can also report stalking on the Police Scotland website.
Check if it’s a hate crime
It might be a hate crime or hate incident if you were harassed:
because of your age
because of your race
because of your religion
because of your sexuality
because you're disabled
because you're trans
because of your variations in sex characteristics.
You can read more about hate incidents and hate crime.
Reporting harassment to the police
If you're being harassed and you feel you're in danger, you should contact the police. You can contact them directly on the Police Scotland website or contact your local community team.
If someone has been threatening or abusive towards you, they can be charged with an offence after only 1 incident of that behaviour.
Going to court to stop harassment
If someone has harassed you more than once, you can apply to court to make them stop. The court can issue:
a non-harassment order
an order to make the person harassing you stay away from you - this is called an interdict
Depending on the circumstances, you might be able to ask for a non-harassment order to include a power of arrest.
If someone breaks a non-harassment order, they're committing an offence. They can be arrested immediately if the order included a power of arrest.
If someone breaches an interdict, you can report them to the police.
You can also apply to the court for compensation.
If you're thinking of applying to court, you should get help from a solicitor. Read more about using a solicitor.