"In 1978 the Legislature enacted Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6, a special statute designed to afford protection against harassment. (Stats. 1978, ch. 1307, § 2, p. 4294.) This statute authorizes a 'person who has suffered harassment' to obtain a temporary restraining order and injunction against the harassing conduct and provides an expedited procedure to obtain such an injunction. [Citation.]" (Diamond View Limited v. Herz (1986) 180 Cal.App.3d 612, 616 [225 Cal.Rptr. 651], fn. omitted.) The legislative history reveals that the impetus for the statute was the intimidating experience suffered by a woman who was hounded day after day by a male admirer who constantly followed the woman, telephoned her incessantly and bombarded her with letters, clippings on parapsychology and strange, unwanted gifts. (Id. at p. 619.) The elements of unlawful harassment, as defined by the language in section 527.6, are as follows: (1) "a knowing and willful course of conduct" entailing a "pattern" of "a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose"; (2) "directed at a specific person"; (3) "which seriously alarms, annoys, or harasses the person"; (4) "which serves no legitimate purpose"; (5) which "would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress" and "actually cause[s] substantial emotional distress to the plaintiff"; and (6) which is not a "[c]onstitutionally protected activity."