All about Harassment

Your body belongs to you:
Sometimes you can know someone for a long time and like them a lot and then they’ll start to do things you don’t like at all. Perhaps they’ll start touching you in a way that seems strange to you, but since you like that person and he’s/she’s always been nice to you before, you don’t like to ask him/her to stop. But can and you should stop them. Because you don’t have to let anyone touch you in way that you do not like, even if it’s an adult you’ve always got on well with. Or even it’s someone in your own family or a neighbour.

It’s not ‘special’ to be made to do something sexually that you do not want to.
Don’t believe someone who tells you that what they feel about you is something ‘very special’ and that you must keep it secret from anyone else because they wouldn’t understand. If you don’t want it to happen say ‘no’ and tell someone you trust what is happening.

Finding someone to tell.
If someone is bothering you, and you don’t want them to go on but you can’t manage to stop them, or you can’t stay out of their way – then you should tell someone who you think can help – it might be your mother, a teacher, an older sister, a close friend, a doctor. If you tell one person and they don’t believe you, or are too frightened to help you, then try someone else and keep on telling till you find someone who will help you. Also tell your friends so that they can stay away from that person, and your friend’s parents may help you too.

Strangers.
You have probably been told lots of times not to take sweets from strangers, or to get into a care with someone you don’t know, because they might do bad things to you. But people we know well can also do bad things to us, by trying to make us believe that they are not.

Don’t be bullied.
If a friend tells you that they are being bullied or made to do something they do not want to, then do try and help them in whatever way you can because the worst thing is to feel alone with your problem. You start thinking things like ‘this must be all might fault because it happening to me’ but don’t think that. Think about telling your parents first.

You are NOT to blame.
It is frightening when something you don’t want to happen is happening. But it is all right to say loudly and firmly ‘No – I don’t want this and you MUST NOT DO IT’. Don’t think it is your fault – it is not. It is nothing that you have done which has made the person behave in this way, so don’t put up with it. THEY CAN BE STOPPED and it is important for you to tell or they will go on and try it on someone else.