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Harassment and Bullying


Harassment and bullying are unacceptable. The Medical School and its Educational Partners (ie all hospital Trusts and GP practices) take a firm stance against these behaviours and actions.

If you have been affected by incidents of harassment and bullying we want to make sure you are well supported and cared for whilst you are coming to terms with what happened. Please find below some information and resources on harassment and bullying.

I WANT TO REPORT AN INCIDENT

If something has happened to you, or to someone you know, we would like to support you through the reporting process. 

There are resources and contact details for people who would like to support you on the page, Where can I find support?. 

Please see below for some more information about different types of bullying and harassment and commonly asked questions.

WHAT IS HARASSMENT?

Harassment includes unwanted behaviour or actions by an individual or a group, which violate another person's dignity, or create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that individual.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying is an unwanted behaviour, abuse or misuse of power used by an individual or group to intimidate, offend or dominate another individual or group. Anybody can be bullied, but often bullying might involve somebody with more power bullying somebody with less.

WHAT IS A HATE CRIME?

Harassment due to a protected characteristic is known as a hate crime. This means that the behaviour or actions are motivated by hostility towards age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership or pregnancy and maternity. This means that it is against the law under the Equality Act 2010. 

Bullying and harassment can occur at the same time, and are often used interchangeably in the workplace. They may be overt or insidious. Whatever form it takes, it is unwarranted and unwelcome to the individual.

Sometimes, an incident of bullying and harassment might occur due to a particular characteristic of an individual or group. But it is important to bear in mind that this behaviour can also be related to several characteristics simultaneously. There are further resources on this website, detailing bullying and harassment against particular groups of people: