Rejected petition Make bullying a criminal offence and give bullying a legal definition.

There must be a legal definition for bullying in order to avoid any confusion or reluctance to identify when bullying is happening and to take action. Bullying should be a criminal offence in order to protect our young people and the most vulnerable in society from suffering at the hands of bullies.

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Currently, only the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Malicious Communications Act 1988 offer victims of bullying some legal protection against bullies. However, these acts do not reflect a modern, digital world where young people are always contactable.
Suicide as a result of bullying is increasing. Physical harm as a result of bullying is increasing.
We need to support schools to stop bullying by criminalising activity that causes harm, giving them the power to take action.

This petition was rejected

Why was this petition rejected?

There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.

You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.

You may wish to sign the following petition, which calls for similar action:

Make bullying a specific criminal offence
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/714263

We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.

Date submitted 16 April 2025
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