What is harassment?

Harassment

If someone is behaving towards you in an unwelcome way that is offensive, humiliating or intimidating, it could be harassment. Harassment can be ongoing and repeated, or it can be a one-off act that is so significant it negatively impacts your social life, work or study.

Harassment can be by an individual or a group. It could be:

physical, such as gestures or touching
verbal, such as name calling
non-verbal, such as texts or emails, or leaving upsetting things for you to find.

The behaviour could be in person or it could be expressed online (including in social media), by texts or phone calls.

Harassment of any kind is not acceptable and is not tolerated at Massey. You have the right to be free from harassment and to be treated with dignity and respect.

Behaviours that are not harassment

It may be hard to tell if a behaviour is harassment or not, but if it makes you feel vulnerable or uneasy, talk about it with us. These behaviours would not be considered harassment:

friendly exchanges or compliments that you both accept
friendships or relationships that you both want to be in
assertively expressing an opinion that is different from someone else's
openly discussing issues or concerns without personal insults
criticisms of another student's behaviour or academic performance that are based on fact and expressed in a kind or helpful manner
using words or actions to advance knowledge or critically debate something without targeting individuals.

Types of harassment

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature. It is against the law, whether or not the person intends to harass you. Examples of sexual harassment are:

offensive comments of a sexual nature
implying or stating a reward (or threat) in exchange for your response to a sexually-oriented request
unwelcome physical contact
sharing intimate images or videos online without your consent
sexual or smutty jokes
many other unwelcome behaviours of a sexual nature (whether obvious or subtle).

Sexual harassment is a type of sexually harmful behaviour.

Get specific sexual harm support
More about sexual harassment on the Human Rights Commission website

Gender-based harassment

Gender-based harassment focuses on:

gender stereotypes
your sexual orientation
your gender identity.

Gender-based harassment is not necessarily about sex. It is often about making you feel unwelcome, humiliated, unsafe or intimidated just because you are a woman or LGBTQIA+ or simply different from someone else.

More about gender-based harassment on the Community Law website

Racial harassment

Racial harassment focuses on your race, colour, ethnic or national origin. Someone who is racially harassing you might:

make jokes about your race
call you by racist names
make offensive remarks about your race
use other unwelcome behaviours.

Even if somebody does not mean to racially harass you, they can still be held responsible.

Racial discrimination

Racial discrimination is when someone treats you unfairly or less favourably than another person in the same or similar situation because you have a different skin colour, racial or ethnic origin. If someone is racially harassing you it might be an expression of racial discrimination.

More about racial harassment and discrimination on the Human Rights Commission website

Personal harassment

Personal harassment is any kind of unwelcome behaviour that is offensive, humiliating or intimidating. Someone who is personally harassing you might use:

abusive or threatening language
verbal or physical threats
physical assault.

Bullying

Bullying is a form of personal harassment that is repeated and does not stop. It involves abuse of power in a relationship. Someone who is bullying you might:

be threatening and intimidating
manipulate you into doing things you don't want to
use verbal abuse, swear or call you names
constantly humiliate you
deliberately ignore, exclude or blank you, including online
make belittling or demeaning remarks to you, or about you, to others
deliberately keep information from you that you need to perform your studies
use other bullying behaviours.

Bullying is not acceptable in any form.

More about bullying on the Bully Free NZ website

Other forms of harassment

Other forms of harassment you may come across include:

religious harassment, related to your religious beliefs
disability-based harassment, if you live with a disability or know someone else who does
age-based harassment
physical harassment, such as violence.

Harassment of any kind is not okay at Massey.