What the law says
Harassment can happen when someone behaves in a way that is unwanted.
Bullying and harassment can sometimes overlap. But they are not the same. Harassment has a specific legal meaning. Some bullying behaviour can be harassment under the law.
It's possible that serious harassment could also be a hate crime.
Equality Act 2010
The main law that protects people from harassment is the Equality Act 2010.
This law protects people from:
- harassment related to protected characteristics
- sexual harassment
- less favourable treatment as a result of certain types of harassment
You can find out more about:
Unwanted behaviour
Unwanted behaviour can include:
- a serious one-off incident
- repeated behaviour
- spoken or written words
- imagery or graffiti
- gestures or mimicry, which means copying someone's voice, accent or mannerisms to mock or humiliate them
- jokes or pranks
- physical behaviour that affects the person
Unwanted behaviour must have the purpose or effect of either:
- violating someone's dignity
- creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for someone
It does not matter if the unwanted behaviour was intended or not. By law, behaviour is unwanted if the person experiencing it does not want it. This is considered from their point of view. The behaviour does not have to be directed at them.
The person being harassed might feel:
- disrespected
- frightened
- humiliated
- insulted
- intimidated
- threatened
It can still be against the law even if the person being harassed does not ask for it to stop.
Other laws on harassment
Harassment and sexual harassment are covered in other legislation too.
For example, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 says harassment can include behaviour that causes alarm or distress. This behaviour might not be related to a protected characteristic. It includes things like stalking and can be a criminal act.
The Public Order Act 1986 was updated in 2025 to include sex-based harassment. This means someone can get a higher sentence if:
- they intentionally cause harassment, alarm or distress
- the harassment is because of a person's sex or presumed sex
If you want to check whether the behaviour you experience is covered by laws on harassment, you should get legal advice.