Bullying and Harassment
What is Bullying?
At Ayrshire College, bullying or harassment of any kind is unacceptable. If you are being bullied or harassed on the basis of, for example, your race, religion or belief (including no belief), or gender identity, then let us know.
It's more than banter. It's bullying:
Bullying can be described as offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour. It can make a person feel vulnerable, upset, humiliated, undermined or threatened.
Bullying can take the form of physical, verbal and non-verbal conduct (social media posts) and may include the following behaviours and actions:
- shouting at, being sarcastic towards, ridiculing or demeaning others
- physical or psychological threats
- overbearing and intimidating levels of supervision
- inappropriate and/or derogatory remarks about someone's performance
- abuse of authority or power by those in positions of seniority
- deliberately excluding someone from meetings or communications without good reason
- creating or using web pages that identify and shame people
- creating altered images to degrade people
- sharing personal information to blackmail or harass someone
- someone spreading a false rumour about another person
What is Harassment?
At Ayrshire College, bullying or harassment of any kind is unacceptable. If you are being bullied or harassed on the basis of, for example, your race, religion or belief (including no belief), or gender identity, then let us know.
Is it harassment? It is when:
Harassment can be described as unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating an individual's dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
Harassment may occur physically, verbally or non-verbally and it can be intentional or unintentional. It also includes treating someone less favourably because they have submitted or refused to submit to such behaviour in the past.
Harassment may include, for example:
- unwanted physical conduct or ‘horseplay’, including touching, pinching, pushing, grabbing, brushing past someone, invading their personal space and more serious forms of physical or sexual assault
- offensive or intimidating comments or gestures, or insensitive jokes or pranks
- mocking, mimicking or belittling a person’s disability
- racist, sexist, homophobic or ageist jokes, or derogatory or stereotypical remarks about a particular ethnic or religious group or gender
- outing or threatening to out someone as gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans
- ignoring or shunning someone, for example, by deliberately excluding them from a conversation or a social activity.
Information and Support
Being bullied or harassed? Not on our watch. When you tell us, we can address it and help you. You can report bullying or harassment on the basis of protected characteristic through Report + Support or through Student Services (Students) and Human Resources (Staff). If you find that too difficult or are unsure what to do, tell a friend, a colleague or lecturer. Or someone that you trust.
Good to know:
- The Equality Act 2010 acts to protect you from unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and in Scotland, colleges like us are legally required to respond to the Public Sector Equality Duty. More information: Equality Act 2010 | Equality and Human Rights Commission (equalityhumanrights.com)
- Ayrshire College continues to demand of itself to be a safe and inclusive place to learn, work and develop. You can read about our progress here: Mainstreaming Equality 2019-2021 and Equality Outcomes 2021-2025 Report (ayrshire.ac.uk)
- Ayrshire College has in place a Student Conduct of Code policy and a Dignity at Work policy. In addition to this, it is also has an Equality and Diversity policy, these policies are here to protect you.
Information and support:
Any form of bullying and harassment can be emotionally overwhelming and damage our wellbeing. We care about you. Look to our Support Articles on mental health and wellbeing for a wealth of information that you may find useful.