BULLYING is the insidious domain of the coward.
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The coward enlists others to gang up on a victim, or picks on a victim because they cannot or will not fight back.
The bully is a school tough - male or female - the worksite coward, the marital coward or the cyber coward, who enjoys visiting their miserable existence on others.
Bullying can be motivated by jealousy, envy or power. You would assume that a bully is a narcissist, with a poor self image. Hence the motivation for preying on the vulnerable.
It is indeed astonishing that the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute found there is no actual bullying law in Tasmania, although there is indirect reference, in laws covering stalking and assault, for instance.
How could we get this far, on a long journey of well documented and published cases of bullying, and have no criminal response in place. How many victims did it take, for a law reform reference to be drawn up?
Sadly many parents are intimately familiar with bullying. The see it in the changes their child endures. The withdrawal, the fear of going out or going back to school. The fear of other students and even the fear of telling their siblings or parents.
If bullying leads to death it is at least manslaughter. It may attract a tougher sanction because bullying designed to hurt and cause suffering over a prolonged period is much more than negligence. For many victims it is pure torture.
For some victims it is the last straw.
We trust the government gets a move on and considers this report, because it is disgraceful that while bullying has been a known, often deadly pursuit for years, governments have not yet acted to offer proper protection for victims.
Governments have an obligation to not only protect victims but to provide appropriate laws for courts to punish and educate offenders.