Harassment resources
| If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal please seek help directly.
You can find resources for an imminent crisis on our Crisis support page. If you see a threat of harm on the projects (someone threatening to harm themselves or others) on the Threats of harm page. |
At some point in their lives, nearly everyone will find themselves in a stressful situation that drives them to seek support. In our communities, this kind of stress can be likely for Wikimedians who are active in controversial topic areas, anti-vandalism, and administrative work. However, harassment, stalking, bullying, and personal attacks can and do happen across the Wikimedia community. While friends, family, and fellow Wikimedians are often great resources in such situations, you may find that you want to talk to someone outside the movement who has experience with similar issues. The Wikimedia Foundation Trust & Safety team has curated the following list of resources for support and guidance. Please feel free to share the link to this page with anyone who may find it useful.
Remember that it's never shameful to ask for help! If someone is being abusive toward you on-wiki, you always have the option of reaching out to a trusted community member, for instance, local administrators or, for global issues, Stewards. If you need help finding support within Wikimedia, or if you have further concerns about coping with harassment that this page doesn't answer, you can reach out to the Trust & Safety team at ca
wikimedia
org.
If you know of a high-quality resource we can add to our list (especially for countries with few or no options in the current list) please leave a note on this page's talk page rather than editing it directly. We want to make sure the Trust & Safety team can learn more about potential resources before they are added.
Resources for help
Seeking support is never a bad thing when you're feeling overwhelmed or at a crossroads. The following links are designed to help you find the support and resources you need.
Online SOS Online SOS is a nonprofit project that can help provide you support and professional resources and advice on what to do moving forward. Checkout their websites for various checklists and cheatsheets to help you review what is happening and what actions you can take.
- Contact: 1-866-488-7386 as well as text and online chat
Focusing on LGBT youth, the Trevor project is a resource that can help you both in a crisis and when you need to reach out to find additional support or resources for the experiences you're going through.
The Twitter resource page is a well curated collection of international resources for multiple different needs whether you need more immediate and hands on support or want written advice and resources on what to do next.
Stay Safe Online – Cyber bullying and harassment
Cyberbullying and harassment specific resources and tips. Aimed at parents trying to protect their children but useful for anyone who wants to know best practices and advice on what to do.
Security and legal resources
Protecting yourself online is important for everyone but especially important when you're worried about people misusing your information or about online harassment or cyberbullying where that type of misuse may be more likely. The links in this section are designed to assist you in both cleaning up after someone has already misused your information and protect yourself if you're worried about it happening in the future.
FBI (United States) Internet crime division
While US-only, if you are within that domain, this website allows you to file complaints about online crimes (including harassment, stalking etc.) to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation via their website.
Website which tracks account compromises to help you search to see if your account has been compromised in mass hacks (for example large retailers or websites). You search for your accounts by email address.
Clear directions on how to shut down your account on different social media websites. Available in English, Dutch, Spanish and German.
Collection of resources to help with everything from computer security (such as malware or hacked accounts) and online security (such as passwords and ID theft) to online bullying.