What is it?
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) affects lots of people and can have an impact on you, your home and your community. If you’re experiencing anti-social behaviour you don’t have to cope on your own – we can help you deal with it.
Anti-social behaviour is anything that has caused or was likely to cause, Harassment, Alarm or Distress to one or more persons, not of the same household. It can be aimed at a person, a community or the wider environment. Anti-social behaviour comes in many different forms ranging from low-level nuisance to serious harassment. It can damage people’s quality of life and interfere with their ability to use and enjoy their home or community.
Examples of anti-social behaviour may include:
- Drunk or rowdy groups
- Harassment or intimidation
- Verbal abuse
- Street drinking
- Vandalism & or graffiti/litter
- Neighbour disputes
- Drug related nuisance
- Noise nuisance
- Vehicle related nuisance
Anyone can experience anti-social behaviour and it can affect you in many ways. You may find that:
- you can’t sleep
- you feel anxious and constantly on edge
- you are frightened to go out
- you don’t feel safe in your own home
- your children are upset
- you change your routine to avoid problems
- you want to move
- you can’t talk to anyone about it
- you feel you must have done something to cause it
How to get help
You might 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 but a lot is, or can become a crime. South Wales Victim Focus can help you even if the police are not involved. We can give you the information and support you need to change things.
If you are in immediate danger call the police by dialling 999. If you would like to speak to a police officer but it isn’t urgent then you can call 101.
Your Victim Focus Officer can support you and help you access specialist help. Click here to find out about your local Victim Focus Team and how to contact them.
If the anti-social behaviour relates to: abandoned vehicles, dog fouling, fly tipping, rubbish, loud music, persistent anti-social parking or noisy neighbours you can report this to your Local Authority or housing provider if you know who this is.