What do I do if I am harassed via email?
- Do not delete the email. You need to keep it as evidence.
- Assess the situation: If you believe that you are in danger, contact your local law enforcement agency immediately! On campus, contact Campus Safety Services at CampusSafetyServices@carleton.ca or at (613) 520-3612. Contact Equity Services at 520-5622 for information on your rights as well as for support.
- Tell the harasser to stop: reply to the harassing email with a firm but polite message telling him or her to refrain from sending you any more mail. If it’s someone with whom you must continue to correspond, tell this person to refrain from sending you more messages of the kind you find offensive. Be specific. Make sure to send a copy of this email to yourself. You need to document as much as possible.
- If the harasser does not stop, report the situation to Campus Safety Services at 520-3612 and Equity Services 520-5622 where you will receive assistance and support
How to report harassment
Send the following three messages to the appropriate address above.
- Send an email describing the harassment. Include a copy of the original harassing email if you wish, but it’s not necessary
- Send a copy of the message you sent telling the harasser to stop
- Forward a copy, with full headers, of the harassing message you received after you told the perpetrator to stop. Remember to forward this message, don’t bounce it or send it as a MIME attachment.
The Security Office will contact you soon to let you know about next steps. Information about how to forward full headers is shown below.
How do I show full headers?
Each email you receive contains information about where the message came from and which computers it went through on its way to your mailbox. This information, contained in the message’s headers, is usually masked from your view. When you display full headers, you’re telling your email program to restore this information. It is used to trace the email back to its source. Look for the name of the email software you are using below, and follow the instructions.
Note: You will only see headers in Outlook or Exchange when the message is from an outside source. No headers show for messages sent from an Exchange server.
Microsoft Outlook
Open the message.
Select: View>Options
See Internet headers, then:
- Select the full text by pressing on the left mouse key. The text and background will be highlighted.
- Press the right mouse key and select “copy.”
- Close the window and paste the text into the message by using the right mouse key again and selecting “paste.”
- Forward the message, containing the header information to the email address above (or print it.)
Outlook Express
Select: File > Properties > Details for header information.
Follow instructions 1) through 4) above.
Microsoft Exchange
Select: File > Properties > Headers.
Follow instructions 1) through 4) above.
Netscape v4.x
Select: View > Headers > All.
Select the entire message, then copy and paste the contents into a new message and send it to Patrol Services.
Eudora
Eudora has a “Blah Blah” button at the top of each received message. Click this button to see full headers. Then forward the message as usual; all the headers will be sent as well.
Pine
When you want to see or forward a message with the full set of headers, type ‘h.’ It will look and act just as it does now. Type ‘f’ to forward the message. Answer ‘n’ if Pine asks you if you want to “Forward message as attachment.”
If you have problems with these instructions, contact the Computing and Communications Services Help Desk by email, by phone at 520-3700 or in person at room 402 Robertson Hall, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
