Harassment
Harassment covers behaviour of an offensive nature intended to disturb or upset. In the legal sense, it is repetitive and intentional behaviour that is threatening or disturbing.
Every person - regardless of their background - has the right to live in Hillingdon without fear of harassment. Incidents of harassment and discrimination often have a long-lasting effect and can create a climate of fear and intimidation.
We are committed to doing everything possible to tackle the causes of harassment and discrimination and providing support to communities throughout the borough.
What is harassment?
Harassment is when someone behaves in a way that makes you feel distressed, humiliated or threatened. It could be someone you know, such as a neighbour, or people from your local area, or it could be a stranger.
Examples of harassment include:
- unwanted phone calls, letters, emails or visits
- abuse and bullying online
- stalking
- verbal abuse and threats
- smashing windows or using dogs to frighten you.
Contact the police
If you're being harassed and you feel you're in danger, contact the police. If you think you're being harassed because of your disability, race, religion, transgender identity or sexual orientation, you can report the harassment to the police as a hate incident or crime.
Tenant information
We have a responsibility to assist tenants who are experiencing harassment, and deal with any tenant who is responsible for causing harassment or allows their family or visitors to harass others. Such behaviour would be a breach of tenancy conditions.
What we can do
We take all complaints very seriously and aim to respond within 1 working day. We will investigate all reports thoroughly and treat them in confidence, and discuss with you the action you would like us to take. If the harassment amounts to a criminal offence, call 999 in an emergency or 101 in a non-emergency.
In dealing with your case, we will offer you the option to be seen by a member of staff of the same sex if necessary and will always carry out interviews in places where you feel safe and comfortable.
In addition to taking legal action against those involved, we will discuss what support we can provide.