Anti-bullying policies framed for sexual minorities

Unesco is working towards eliminating violence and bullying at school to ensure that all students have access to safe and inclusive learning environments. It will also focus on bullying based on sexual orientation.

As part of a research, groups discussions and eight in-depth interviews with 69 students who self-identified as “sexual/gender minority” were conducted. Nearly three fourth of respondents reported that they had reduced social interactions with their peers (73 per cent), suffered from anxiety and depression (70 per cent) and lost concentration in their studies (70 per cent).

About 63 per cent of participants reported lower academic performance, while more than half (53 per cent) reported having skipped classes, one-third (33.2 per cent) said that bullying played a key role in discontinuing school.

According to interviews with school teachers, head teachers and officials of the School Education Department, only 18 per cent of participants said that they had reported incidents of sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI)-based bullying to school authorities and 53 per cent of those who reported being bullied said that authorities took some action against the persons who bullied them.

Speaking on the occasion, School Education Minister KA Sengottaiyan expressed happiness over the UNESCO’s research.

The report made by Unesco expressed recommendations on how to prevent and address bullying.

One of these recommendations is to ensure that the school curricula provide age-appropriate information on sexual health, including information on sexual and gender diversity.

Among the recommendations for school management, the report stressed the importance to implement anti-bullying policies, create awareness among students, train teachers on gender and sexual diversity, establish monitoring mechanisms, develop confidential channels for reporting bullying and provide supportive counselling services for victims of bullying.