Harassment

Additional Resources

Illinois State University is committed to providing an educational and work environment free of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, order of protection, gender identity and expression, ancestry, age, marital status, disability, genetic information, unfavorable military discharge, or status as a veteran. For additional information, please visit the ISU Office of Equal Opportunity, Ethics, and Access homepage.

University Harassment & Discrimination Policy

Telephone Harassment Log

Legal Definition

720 ILCS 5/26.5. Harassing and Obscene Communications.

"Harass" or "harassing" means knowing conduct which is not necessary to accomplish a purpose that is reasonable under the circumstances, that would cause a reasonable person emotional distress and does cause emotional distress to another. (Source: P.A. 97-1108, effective 1/1/2013).

Illinois statutes defining acts of harassment include, but are not limited to:

720 ILCS 5/26.5-1. Transmission of obscene messages
720 ILCS 5/26.5-2. Harassment by telephone
720 ILCS 5/26.5-3. Harassment through electronic communications

There are other forms of harassment, including:

720 ILCS 5/12-7.3. Stalking
720 ILCS 5/12-7.5. Cyberstalking

Harassment via Phone or Text

When it comes to harassment via your phone, prevention is ideal. Here are some tips:

Do not give out your phone number to anyone but your friends. When you meet someone new do not give out your phone number until you know who they are and where they live.
Do not list your phone number in public places, including social media (regardless of account privacy settings).
Do not post your number on ad sites such as Craigslist or eBay. Consider using email or confidential phone services such as inumbr.com instead.
Consider having your phone number unlisted or use your first initial and last name to list it.
Register your phone numbers on the Federal Do Not Call List (www.donotcall.gov).

If prevention measures don’t work and you are receiving unwanted phone contact, keep the following tips in mind:

Calmly tell the caller you are not interested and hang up.
Never buy anything during an unexpected call.
Do not listen to sales pitches or solicitations during an unexpected call.
If calls continue, don't talk, just hang up. These types of callers often want an audience.
Do not admit annoyance or other emotions via language or actions, such as slamming down a receiver. This, too, can egg on a harasser.
Contact police anytime you are threatened or receive harassing or obscene phone calls. Save harassing voicemails or text messages for the police to review.
Keep a log if the calls or text messages persist. This log should include date, time, duration of call, phone number, and any information of the content. Download a free version of the Harassing Telephone Calls/Text Messages Log Sheet.

Harassment Online

Tell the person harassing you in straight forward terms, "Leave me alone, stop harassing me. Do not contact me again."
Do not reply to anything else the harasser says. No replies to emails, taunts, or lies said about you.
Log all chats and IMs and save a copy as evidence. Save all e-mails and text messages as well as voicemails or voice messages. Take screen shots as well. Print all evidence but keep the files on your hard drive as well.
In the case of email harassment, you need to contact the harasser's ISP (Internet Service Provider) and make a complaint. If an offending website has been posted about you, contact the web hosting service. If there are posts on a forum or bulletin board, contact the moderators.
If harassment continues from an ISU student, contact ISU Police.
If the harassment is coming from other students at another college or university, make note of their school and degree program and contact their university’s police or campus safety division in addition to ISU Police.
Keep in mind that some types of bullying (threats) may be illegal. Report it to local law enforcement along with copies of the materials that you have collected.