HRO - StopIt! Program

StopIt! Program

E-mail Harassment

E-MAIL HARASSMENT is a growing problem at Queen's and other universities.

STOPIT! is a joint initiative of:

Information Technology Services
The Human Rights Office
The Department of Security
The Dean of Student Affairs

Students should be aware that the Criminal Code applies to e-mail, and that violations can be turned over to the local police for investigation.

IS IT HARASSMENT?

Harrassment is defined as vexatious conduct or comment that is known or ought reasonable to be known as unwelcome.

Ask yourself these three questions:

Did the incident cause stress that affected your ability, or the ability of others, to work or study?
Was it unwelcome behavior?
Would a reasonable person of your gender/race/religion/sexual orientation subjected to this behavior find it unacceptable?

You should be aware that unsolicited advertising is a regular annoyance when using e-mail. It is not normally treated as harassment unless it is persistent, hateful, and/or obscene.

For more information on this problem: http://www.its.queensu.ca/network/spam.html

If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, HERE'S WHAT TO DO...

DO NOT IGNORE IT, and DO NOT ERASE THE E-MAIL MESSAGE(S) from your Inbox - it contains information that may identify the person responsible.
Forward the offending e-mail to: stopit@post.queensu.ca
If you feel threatened, call the Department of Security at 533-6111.
To discuss the harassment or to file a complaint, call the Human Rights Office at 533-6886, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
For help from Information Technology Services (ITS), call 533-2244 Monday to Friday 8:30am-4:30pm. It is also a violation of the Criminal Code to use someone else's name or computer userid to impersonate them in sending e-mail.
If you have received e-mail of this type, preserve a copy of the message as it contains information that may help identify the actual sender.