Report harassment to police

What can the police do about harassment

What can the police do about online harassment and what you need to do for the police to take your case seriously. These two questions are among the most common questions that victims of online harassment ask.  

Is it worth reporting online harassment to the police

What happens when you file a police report for harassment in the UK

How can you make the police take your online harassment report seriously

Is it worth reporting online harassment to the police

Reporting harassment to the police is nearly always worth a try. However, you must not expect massive action by the police even if the online harassment that you are reporting is very serious. Reporting harassment to the police might only have limited benefits in terms of stopping the harassment against you. However, go and report, from the very beginning. There is a very little chance that the police will approach your harasser and even a slimmer chance that the harassment against you will stop as a result of your reporting. However, you need to report harassment to the police because the police will give you a crime reference number which will become useful later on and you will need evidence of the inability of the police to help you.

What happens when you file a police report for harassment in the UK

When you file a police report for harassment in the UK, you should expect very little in terms of benefit. Depending on your case, the police might agree to pay a visit to your harasser's home to speak with your harasser and then consider whether to issue your harasser with a harassment warning. However, it is very rare for this to happen and in too many cases, visits by the police have caused an online harasser to escalate their harassing conduct, after which matters have become worse for the harassment victim.

How can I make the police take my online harassment report seriously 

We have many articles on this website about reporting online harassment to the police. The articles have been written after we spoke to dozens of victims of online harassment who told us about their experiences, having reported online harassment to the police. Learn about what preparations you need to make before reporting harassment to the police and what evidence you will need to try and prompt police action.