Anti-social behaviour

What is anti-social behaviour?

When someone’s quality of life is affected by the actions of other people in the community, this is anti-social behaviour (ASB).

Anti-social behaviour affects lots of people and often impacts lots of people in one community.

If you’re experiencing anti-social behaviour, aren’t sure what to do or need support in coping with what’s going on, we’re here to help.

Voice has extensive experience of supporting people dealing with:

  • noise nuisance;
  • neighbourly disputes;
  • verbal abuse;
  • threatening behaviour;
  • harassment and intimidation;
  • vandalism; and
  • criminal damage.

You may think that an incident is small or unimportant to start with, but anti-social behaviour can go on for a long time and become very serious.

Not all anti-social behaviour is classed as crime, however lots are and different types of ASB can lead on to becoming crimes.

Whether what you’re experiencing is a crime or not, we can help to support you and help you to take action. To help solve neighbourly disputes and anti-social behaviour, Voice actively supports Restorative Practices, to mediate between those in conflict. Find out more, here (hyperlink).

Read about how we’ve helped residents cope with the anti-social behaviour.

How anti-social behaviour can affect you 

People are affected by anti-social behaviour in a variety of different ways, which are often affected by the type of ASB they are experiencing.

Common reactions to anti-social behaviour include:

  • feeling anxious and constantly on edge;
  • being frightened to go out;
  • changing your routine to avoid problems;
  • feeling sad and upset; wanting to move house;
  • feeling unsafe; and
  •  having trouble sleeping.

How can Voice can help me?

Dealing with anti-social behaviour is hard. However, Voice have a wealth of experience in helping people just like you to cope, recover and thrive following anti-social behaviour.

We can help you by:

  • providing emotional support by phone and face to face;
  • speaking to different agencies who can help on your behalf;
  • keeping you up to date with what is being done to tackle the problem;
  • helping you understand the process of tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, which can take a long time;
  • giving you advice about your personal safety and home security;
  • supporting you in mediation to try and resolve the problem;
  • helping you contact other agencies and services that can also offer help; and
  • supporting you if a case goes to court.

If you could do with a helping hand to deal with anti-social behaviour, speak to Voice, now.

How can I report anti-social behaviour? 

For many people experiencing anti-social behaviour, knowing how to begin dealing with it is often a problem.

It’s important to tell the right people about what is going on. Depending on the situation, you can report ASB to:

  • your landlord. They have a duty to make sure that tenants don’t behave in a way that breaks their tenancy agreement;
  • the local authority. There is a department in each local council who has responsibility for anti-social behaviour. Call the council’s reception and ask to speak to the staff who deal with anti-social behaviour complaints, and;
  • the police. If you think a crime has been committed you should report this to the police.

If you experience anti-social behaviour, you may have to help provide evidence before action can be taken, for example you may be asked to keep a diary of things that happen. You might even be asked to have recording equipment in your property for noise nuisance.

It takes a lot of time and energy to keep doing this and we will support you. There is often no quick fix, but we’re here to help you through the process.