What Is Harassment? To understand harassment, you need to know what it is as well as what it is not. Webster's New World Dictionary (Second College Edition) defines it as:
(1) Trouble persistently
(2) Discrimination on the basis of sex
(3) To trouble, worry, or torment
This sounds too simple, and the italicized words only reinforce the simplicity by sounding quite threatening. However, in the “real world,” what constitutes harassment is confusing and peppered with gray areas. We will take a test in a moment, but first let's see how you view yourself and your knowledge of the issues involving harassment.
If you place yourself in any square designated by a minus (-) sign, this is a problem you must address. The term “harassment” has too many interpretations for you to be comfortable with any understanding less than positive (+).
To get a better understanding, and to see if your self-assessment is accurate, let's take a test.