Managing bullying, harassment and stalking 

Bullying can take many forms—some more obvious than others. It often involves repeated actions or words that aim to hurt, undermine, or intimidate someone.

Common examples include:

• Personal insults and name calling.
• Mocking someone or ridiculing jokes. 
• Threats. 
• Repeated negative judgment and criticism. 
• Public shaming or humiliating others in front of other people. 
• Belittling someone’s ideas or experiences. 
• Invasion of personal space. 
• Spreading malicious rumours. 
• Involving other people or organisations in unfairly criticising the individual or forum. 
• Misusing your position to intimidate or belittle someone. 
• Passive/aggressive bullying where someone acts appropriately on the surface but where the criticism/negativity is more subtle. This can include negative gossip or jokes, sarcasm, gestures or facial expressions – rolling of the eyes, mimicking to ridicule, professional isolation, deliberately causing embarrassment and insecurity. 

Even when these behaviours seem subtle or indirect, they can have a serious impact over time. All forms of bullying should be taken seriously and addressed appropriately.

• Repeated negative criticism.
• Belittling or rude posts on social media about the forum’s work or individuals who work in the forum.
• Sabotaging the forum’s work by holding similar events to the forum or holding them on the same day.
• Putting out misinformation about the forum including about the role and work of the forum.
• Targeting the forum and blaming them for the local area’s failings.
• Putting out inaccurate information about the forum or their work with local services.
• Taking credit for the work of the forum.

Bullying isn’t against the law unless the bullying is related to one or more of the nine protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act 2010:  

1. Age.
2. Sex. 
3. Disability. 
4. Gender reassignment. 
5. Marriage and Civil Partnership. 
6. Pregnancy and Maternity. 
7. Race. 
8. Religion or belief. 
9. Sexual orientation. 

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from harassment at work. Employees, and workers, self-employed contractors and job applicants should all be protected along with volunteers and steering group members. Forums must do all they reasonably can and have a legal duty of care to protect staff and volunteers from harm, which includes taking incidents seriously and dealing with bullying issues. 

Creating a safe, respectful, and supportive space is essential for any forum. When people feel valued and protected, they are more likely to thrive and contribute positively to the organisation’s goals.

Good employment practices not only help your forum run smoothly, but they also build trust and a strong team culture. Understanding employee rights and having clear procedures in place for handling concerns—such as bullying or harassment—ensures that everyone knows where they stand and what to expect.

While most workplaces aim to be inclusive and respectful, it’s important to be prepared in case issues do arise. The information below outlines key responsibilities, rights, and helpful resources for handling any concerns in a fair and supportive way.

Forums that employ staff have legal responsibilities to ensure a safe and respectful working environment.

Employers are legally responsible for preventing bullying and harassment in the workplace. This includes any bullying or harassment experienced by employees or job applicants. If the employer fails to act, they may be held legally liable.

Employers are legally responsible for preventing bullying and harassment at work. This includes bullying or harassment experienced by employees or job applicants. If the employer fails to act, they may be held legally liable.

Paid employees have a contract of employment, which outlines their rights and responsibilities.

This contract typically includes:

• The right to take legal action through an employment tribunal if these rights are breached or if bullying, harassment, or discrimination occurs.
• A grievance procedure: what an employee should do if they have a concern or complaint.
• A disciplinary procedure: how the forum will respond to concerns about behaviour or performance.

If an issue arises, forums should:

• Read and follow policies and procedures carefully. These will help you decide whether to handle the situation informally or formally. 
• Keep clear and accurate records of all meetings, conversations and actions taken.
• Listen carefully to the person raising the concern and take their complaint seriously. 
• Offer them support from CIC Wellbeing (link) or other local services that might be able to help.

Seek support and advice from your Contact Adviser, Community Matters, or an HR professional. Offer emotional support, such as through CIC Wellbeing or other local mental health and wellbeing services.

ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) has a very helpful booklet offering practical steps for managing complaints fairly and legally: Approaching a complaint – Handling bullying and discrimination

Volunteers won’t usually have a contract and therefore won’t have the same legal status and protections that employees have. This means that they may not be entitled to access formal grievance and disciplinary procedures if things go wrong. However, volunteers do have other rights as members of the public under health and safety law and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).  

As a matter of good practice, forums should establish clear routes for volunteers to raise concerns with the person overseeing their work. If the concern remains unresolved, it should then be escalated to a steering group member. 

If any member of the forum – whether they are a forum steering group member, volunteer, or staff – engages in bullying or harassment during the course of their work, the forum itself may have some liability. You can find more information about this from NCVO’s website here: If volunteering goes wrong | NCVO 

Sexual harassment is unlawful as a form of discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. 

The Equality Act states that it’s sexual harassment if the behaviour: 

• Violates an individual’s dignity 

• Creates an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, degrading or offensive environment (this includes digitally such as social media/emails) 

Examples of sexual harassment include: 

• Sexual comments, gestures, or jokes 
• Staring or leering at an individual’s body 
• Using insulting names  
• Sharing sexual photos or images 
• Groping or touching 
• Unwanted sexual communications 

Some of these are also forms of sexual or indecent assault. The forum or individual can report this direct to a local police station or to Crime Stoppers anonymously.  

• Regularly following someone. 
• Damaging property.
• Repeated malicious communications such as by email, on social media or via direct messaging/text. 
• Repeatedly going uninvited to their home. 
• Checking someone’s internet use, email, or other communications. 
• Hanging about where they know the person often visits. 
• Interfering with their property. 
• Identity theft (signing up to services or buying things in the person’s name). 

• Ask strategic partners to produce a regular “You said, we did” feedback to parent carers that the forum can publish 
• Produce regular updates to let parent carers know the work the forum has been doing and issues the forum is feeding into partners 
• Set up a regular networking meeting for local groups and voluntary organisations to share information and updates – this can help build a more open environment for local groups to ask questions and share issues and concerns. Forums could also ask your local partners to do this so the forum is part of it rather than leading it
• Recruit someone with expertise in comms and social media to manage forum communications 
• Develop a code of conduct, social media policy and communications strategy if the forum don’t already have them in place 
• Seek support from the local Council for Voluntary Service or local partners to help manage communications 
• Find a social media/communications specialist to help the forum develop its strategy or give training to the forum’s communications volunteer or team 
• Have a set of rules that parents sign up to when they join the forum’s social media page or group – manage any breaches quickly and kindly. First breach – a warning, then remove if the behaviour is repeated. Call out bad behaviour.  Seek support – see support organisations below
• Take ongoing or challenging communications offline but be prepared to post clear and accurate information online that everyone can see for transparency 
• Make sure the forum’s partners have rules for meetings, rules are sent to all participants and are managed effectively in meetings whether online or in person 
• Be open and transparent about the forums work and any challenges the forum may be having 
• Manage any conflicts of interest or perceived conflicts of interest well. Make sure the forum includes conflicts of interest as a standing agenda item  
• Publish information about the role of the forum, boundaries to the work of a forum and its responsibilities compared to the local authority for example – ‘The forum shares collective experiences of families with strategic partners and works to influence positive change in services. The Local Authority and Health services remain responsible for making the changes and services on the ground’  
• Forums can use focus groups as a way of expanding your forum’s reach, the involvement of local groups and other parent carers in the strategic work 
• Meet with partners on an informal basis to discuss issues that are coming up from parents and quick changes that can be made to make improvements for families. Make sure the forum publish any positive outcomes resulting from the forum’s involvement, or feedback from partners 
• Ask other forums what they do to build up relationships with local groups and organisations. Seek support from other forums – use the NNPCF closed Facebook group and regional network meetings 
• Support each other and talk to your Contact Adviser if there are signs that poor behaviour is escalating either from an individual or a group – don’t manage this on your own as a forum 
• Make sure forum policies are up to date, especially complaints policy, bullying and harassment policy, conflict of interest policy, code of conduct, grievance and disciplinary policies 
• Review the forum’s website and social media communication regularly – ask parents for feedback to help keep it updated and relevant 
• Be open and transparent about the work the forum is doing, the challenges its facing and how the forum is trying to address the challenges 

• Seek support before the forum does anything so you’re not on your own
• Highlight your forum’s rules or code of conduct in meetings, and on social media – remove offenders after one warning if the behaviour persists
• Keep a record of how they’re harassing the forum or individuals, who they are, what they’ve done, when and the impact of their behaviour. There is more information on the Suzy Lamplugh website about what information to record. The link to their website is in the last section of this page
• Tell the person to stop and make a record of when and how you did this
• Make sure partners (LA, Health, host etc.) are aware of what’s happening so they can also manage any similar behaviour in meetings effectively
• Call out behaviour in meetings and let people know it’s unacceptable – label the behaviour and ask them to stop. Make sure you’re feeling safe and confident to call out behaviour and have supporters nearby. If necessary, warn venues so they can be called on for help to remove people if their behaviour escalates
• Make sure all forum volunteers, staff, and parent reps are trained in managing bullying and harassment
• Ask colleagues, friends and family to record any details they witness with dates, times and other relevant details
• Keep any evidence the forum has, such as emails, text messages, names of witnesses, photos and screenshots of social media posts and videos. Keep details of their clothes and car. Keep messages, emails, letters etc. You will need to consider GDPR in how you retain information and be aware that individuals have the right to access any information you hold about them. Please see the section on guidance on Data Protection Regulations, Subject Access Requests or seek specialist advice
• Use 1471 or use your mobile’s call log to get details of the calls including times, dates, and phone number if not withheld. 
• Forums and individuals  can pursue a civil case if: The perpetrator has harassed you more than once – this includes stalking or the harassment made you feel distressed or alarmed 
• A court can order the person harassing you to stay away from you – this is called getting an ‘injunction’. The court can also award you compensation.
• If the person keeps harassing you after you get an injunction, they’ve broken the law – they could receive a prison sentence.   

Website link:  Information and advice about all forms of bullying (nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk) 

Helpline 0300 323 0169 

Telephone 0845 225 5787 

Open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 12pm on Saturday 

SupportLine provides a confidential helpline providing emotional support to any individual on any issue including bullying, harassment, and stalking. 

Stalking and harassment (supportline.org.uk) 

Helpline 01708 765200  

Open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 6pm to 8pm 

Support is also available by email: [email protected] 

Website link: Suzy Lamplugh Trust 

National stalking helpline 0808 802 0300  

The helpline is available from Monday and Wednesday 9.30am to 8.00pm 

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 9.30am to 4.00pm 

Website: Paladin – National Stalking Advocacy Service (paladinservice.co.uk) 
Paladin has a helpline providing advice to victims of stalking and advocacy to high risk victims of stalking, raises awareness of dangers and risks of stalking, develops a victim’s network of support as well as providing training to professionals, and campaigning.  

Phone line 020 3866 4107 

Helpline for anyone affected by crime. 

Home – Victim Support 
0808 168 9111 
www.victimsupport.org.uk 

Glitch – Home (glitchcharity.co.uk) 

Glitch is a UK charity committed to ending online abuse by educating people on how they can engage positively, respectfully, and justly in all digital spaces. 

They have a range of resources to help you deal with online abuse. 

• ACAS: Handling bullying and discrimination