A New Release for the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School
Today, Thursday, November 4th, marks the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying. UNESCO Member States declared the first Thursday of November as the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying, recognising that school-related violence in all its forms is an infringement of children’s and adolescents’ rights to education and their health and well-being.
To mark this date, UNESCO has released a new publication entitled "Safe to learn and thrive: Ending violence in and through education". This report explores the importance of understanding violence in education and acknowledges the influence of harmful social norms. This publication draws on extensive global evidence and insights into the multifaceted nature and root causes of violence in education.
UNESCO draws attention to the causes of violence in education and highlights the heightened levels of violence and bullying experienced by LGBTQI learners in this report. It shows, for instance, that 42% of LGBTQI youth reported having been ‘ridiculed, teased, insulted or threatened at school primarily by their peers. It also mentions the figures of the Fundamental Rights Agency LGBTI Survey III, showing that 62% of young people aged 15-17 report having experienced bullying in the last year. This number goes up to 74% for trans youth, 69% for non-binary and gender-diverse youth, and 76% for intersex youth.
This report also offers practical and concrete strategies to create safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environments. The recommendations unfold how to harness the transformative power of education through a holistic approach. These recommendations also go in line with the work we have done over the years through our LGBTQI Inclusive Education Research and include the following components that can be applied to bullying and cyberbullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics as follows:
- Implementing inclusive curricula: This means developing and implementing curricula, learning materials, and teaching methods that are LGBTQI-inclusive and free from stereotypes. Curricula should also promote respect and non-discrimination in all schools and educational levels.
- Supporting teachers and other school staff: This means providing training and support to teachers and other school staff to understand their responsibility to prevent and address violence faced by LGBTQI youth at school, including through challenging their own implicit biases. It also means developing training on how to include content on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics in key specific topics, such as comprehensive sexuality education.
- Fostering a safe school environment: This means implementation of codes of conduct, school policies, regulations and protocols backed by strong leadership and accountability, development of safe and inclusive physical spaces, and fostering a positive school climate for LGBTQI learners as well.
- Creating reporting mechanisms for learners affected by bullying. These services should be trained to address the specificities of LGBTQI learners and their need for accurate and age-appropriate information on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.
- Showing political leadership through robust legal and policy frameworks: This means prohibiting and addressing discrimination in education but also repealing discriminatory laws against LGBTQI people. It also means developing legislation and policies that protect trans and intersex youth rights, like legal gender recognition based on self-determination or banning of intersex genital mutilation.
- Maintaining partnerships and mobilisation with key stakeholders: This means collaborating and engaging with key stakeholders, including youth groups, LGBTQI civil society organisations, teachers’ unions, families, communities and relevant government ministries and departments.
- Providing data and evidence: This means systematically monitoring and documenting data on LGBTQI-related violence in schools, setting specific goals to tackle this issue and tracking progress toward achieving these goals, and evaluating how sound policies are helping schools to tackle bullying, with a view to continuous learning and improvement.
The holistic approach involves all levels of the school community: headmasters, teachers, learners, other school personnel and governance boards. This approach is most effective when it prioritises inclusion, ensuring every learner feels valued and supported, including LGBTQI learners.
We welcome this new report by UNESCO and thank them for their commitment to protecting LGBTQI children and youth from violence and bullying at school.
Read the full report here | Read more about the International Day against Violence and Bullying at School, Including Cyberbullying here.
