Stalking, Criminal Harassment and CyberbullyingPrinter Friendly Printer Friendly Script 206 gives information only, not legal advice. If you have a legal problem or need legal advice, you should speak to a lawyer. For the name of a lawyer to consult, call Lawyer Referral at 604.687.3221 in the lower mainland or 1.800.663.1919 elsewhere in British Columbia.The script explains what stalking, criminal harassment, and cyberbullying are and how to stop them. Refer also to scripts: 217, called “Applying for a peace bond and filing assault charges” 215, called “Charging someone with a criminal offense”What is stalking?Stalking is behaviour that may – in some cases – be criminal harassment under section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada. Stalking is criminal harassment if a person does any of the following things, knowing that it causes you to reasonably fear for your safety or the safety of anyone you know: repeatedly follow you, or anyone you know. repeatedly communicate with you, or anyone you know, directly or indirectly. repeatedly watch you, or anyone you know, or lurk around your home, workplace, or any other place you happen to be engage in any threatening conduct directed at you or a member of your familyEven if the person doing these things has not been told or doesn’t know that you fear for your safety or the safety of anyone you know, if they should have known, then these behaviours may still be criminal harassment.A person can be stalking even if they don’t physically hurt anyone or damage any property. The law is designed to protect psychological, emotional, and physical safety.Stalking may start with conduct that seems more annoying than dangerous. Often, the conduct is legal and even socially acceptable, if it’s just an isolated incident. But when it’s repeated, it may scare the victim. Conduct such as following someone, or sending gifts or letters, may become intimidating if done continually and against the person’s wishes.What is cyberbullying?Cyberbullying is a type of harassment using new technology. Whether it is criminal harassment depends on the facts of a case. Cyberbullies use social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube), blogs, texting, instant messaging, and other internet avenues to engage in deliberate, repeated, and hostile behaviour intended to harm, embarrass, or slander someone. Although their work is public, cyberbullies are anonymous and it is often harder to identify and stop them.Cyberbullying may also be defamation. The Criminal Code (section 300) outlaws publishing a "defamatory libel" – material published, without lawful justification or excuse, likely to injure the reputation of any person by exposing them to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or designed to insult the person. But criminal defamation is rare. More common is civil defamation – communication about a person that tends to hurt their reputation. Script 240, called “Defamation: Libel and Slander”, has more on this.What can you do if someone is stalking, harassing, or cyberbullying you? First, if the harassment is attempted communication with you, tell the person to stop. Otherwise, they may not know that they are harassing you. Otherwise, never reply to harassing messages. Call the police to report the problem. Record the details of every incident, including time, date, place, who was involved, and what was said and done. Keep letters, notes, voicemail messages, emails, texts, instant messages, and social media and internet posts. Give them to the police. If the harassment happens at school, report it to the school authorities, as well as to the police. If it happens at work, report it to your boss, plus the police. Report cyberbullying or other harassing communication to your internet or cellphone company. Most companies have policies on acceptable use of their services, and can cancel the service of a customer who violates those policies. The company can also help police find a cyberbully who is using their network. If you get a harassing phone call on a landline, dial *57 immediately when the call ends. The phone company will record the phone number that made the call, so the police can get it. If you receive harassing calls on your cell phone, call the phone company for help in tracking the calls. You can also seek a civil restraining order in court. But to do this, you need legal advice.What happens after you report the problem?If a person is charged with criminal harassment, Crown Counsel (the prosecutor) makes the case against (or prosecutes) them. The prosecutor may proceed by indictment for serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is 10 years in jail. Or the prosecutor may proceed by summary conviction for less serious cases, and then the maximum penalty is either a fine or 6 months in jail, or both.If a court finds a person guilty, it will probably order the person to obey certain conditions. For example, a court will normally order a person convicted of criminal harassment to have no contact with you directly or indirectly, to stay away from your home and workplace, and to not own or carry any weapons. A court may also order a convicted person to take counseling, if it might help.If the court sends the person to jail and fines them, it cannot also order them to obey conditions. Usually, a court will order the person to obey conditions and either fine or jail them.More informationLearn more about what you can do from the following sources: The Victim LinkLine at 1.800.563.0808, available 24 hours a day. The website is
www.victimlinkbc.ca. The BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General publication called “Stalking and Criminal Harassment”. Search for “stalking” on its website at
www.gov.bc.ca/pssg. The Cyberbullying resource page at
www.cyberbullying.ca. Web Aware at
www.bewebaware.ca. Click on “cyberbullying”. The Canada Safety Council at
www.safety-council.org. Click on “Cyber Bullying”.[updated January 2011]Dial-A-Law© is a library of legal information that is available: by phone, as recorded scripts, and by audio and text, on the CBA BC Branch website.To access Dial-A-Law, call 604.687.4680 in the lower mainland or 1.800.565.5297 elsewhere in BC. Dial-A-Law is available online at
www.cba.org/bc in Public & Media.The Dial-A-Law library is prepared by lawyers and gives practical information on many areas of law in British Columbia. Dial-A-Law is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia and sponsored by the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch.© Copyright 1983-2011 The Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch