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Victims of bullying and abuse have the right to use "reasonable" force against their opponents when standing up for themselves, independent research shows.
People are under no obligation to wait for their attacker to "throw the first punch" before resorting to using physical force against them; this is a common misinterpretation of current precedent. Instead, all one needs is to be able to prove that they reasonably felt threatened, but this is up to a judge to decide whether their defence stands if the case gets to court.
Intentionally causing any person to feel harassed, alarmed, or distressed is a criminal offence with a maximum term of six months behind bars; it was made a summary offence several years ago but had already been illegal under other laws.