I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.
Essentially, civil harassment is basically when someone harasses you, abuses you, stalks, etc. (non relation). I used to work for a domestic violence clinic. We would from time to time take civil harassment suits (like say a neighbor beats you up, or trespasses or threatens).
You have to be in fear of your safety, it must be legitimate, and it can't just be annoying. Legally speaking, telephone calls don't cut it alone.
You can get restraining orders with a legit civil harassment claim.
look up the definition by looking up your state in the state statutes section of freeadvice.com's homepage (at the top). type in harass under the civil code and see what comes up.
Hope this helps.