I hope my readers have a wonderful 2017.

It has been suggested that if I had not started writing my blog the online personal abuse about me which has continued for a long time would not have happened.  I therefore want to explain my reasons for writing about the bullying and the order in which things happened.

I definitely did not seek to be bullied, but of course no-one ever does!  When I was put onto the team of the bullying manager I continued to work at the same pace and level as I always had, attempting to do my job to the best of my ability. It is unfortunate that when I asked to be moved from the team because I was unhappy this was delayed for a year.  I have no doubt that if I had been moved immediately, very little of what followed would have happened.

When in the last few months of my employment in the civil service I had to resign from my job because of victimisation, I was aware of the very nasty online personal abuse.  Although in an attempt to deal with this I consulted the police there was no success at that time.  Again, I believe the law relating to online bullying via social media needs to be clarified and strengthened.

As at that time I doubted that my former employer would deal effectively with the abuse by an employee I decided I would have to take action myself: the abuse preceded my blog.  One thing I have learnt from all this is that you have to take a stand.  If you ignore bullying it may simply intensify because the bullies want to think they have upset their victim.

After careful thought I decided that replying to personal abuse in the same vein would not be my preferred response.  I would be  in no position to criticise the bullies if I behaved as they did.  I decided to write a blog and simply describe what happened and put my own point of view, as well as saying why I think certain things occurred. I have made it clear if I have written about something which was just a rumour, or if I was merely expressing an opinion.  I have not exaggerated or lied as I believe that acting with truth and integrity has a power of its own.  [People may believe the nastiness for a time, but the truth eventually comes out.]

I have used humour to deal with some of the very nasty personal abuse.  Bullies do not like this as they tend to feel that people are laughing at them (when they actually laugh at what is said and how it is said).  The bullies want the feeling of superiority they appear to get from the bullying, and not the feelings of unhappiness or low self esteem which seem to be what cause them to bully in the first place.

Bullies also appear to dislike their behaviour becoming widely known.  I believe that if you shine a light on bullying, the bullies tend to back off and try to minimise what they have done.  They may even decide that they have become victims, although of course the abuse may just move “underground”.

I strongly feel that if the bullies had not wanted their actions to be made more widely known they should not have done it in the first place.  I also feel that the organisation I worked for should have dealt with the situation more effectively at the start of the bullying and in the final months leading up to my resignation.   During the middle period when I was moved away from the same office as the bullying manager, matters were dealt with effectively because someone wanted a promotion.  Of course, once the promotion was gained, I was no longer of value.

I do not want anyone else to go through the bullying I have been subjected to and will do what I can to ensure that the organisation deals with bullying in a more proactive way, and protects its employees more effectively.

Finally, I would say that people have surprised me throughout all this.  Some who I believed for a variety of reasons would have given me their support did not and have even attacked me through social media etc or by contacting people connected to close relatives.  Others who may know me or even not know me at all have been fair, supportive and kind.  There are a lot of good people in this world who, thankfully, outnumber the spiteful, unhappy ones.  I would like to thank all of those who continue to support my case and say how much I appreciate them.