Preventing and addressing homophobic and transphobic bullying in education: A human rights–based approach using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

ABSTRACT

Homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools can have a serious effect on children and young people subjected to it at a crucial moment in their lives. It is an obstacle to the right to education, which is one of the basic universal human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various United Nations Conventions. This article examines the global prevalence of homophobic and transphobic bullying in educational institutions; programmatic interventions by United Nations agencies to prevent and address it; and how international human rights frameworks such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child can be used to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) children and young people in and through education.

KEYWORDS:

• Bullying
• educational policy
• educational programs
• homophobia
• safe schools
• school violence
• social change

Note

Acknowledgements

This article was finalized with inputs from Christopher Castle (Section of Health and Global Citizenship Education and Global Coordinator for HIV) at UNESCO, as well as Pierre Robert (formerly Adolescent Development and Participation Section), Peter Gross (Child Protection and Education Section) and Morgan Strecker (Education Section) at UNICEF. The author gives special thanks to Tony Leroux, intern in the Section of Health and Global Citizenship Education at UNESCO.

Notes on contributor

Christophe Cornu has a Masters both in International Affairs and Sociology from the Sorbonne University in Paris. He has been working in the field of international development for 22 years, with a focus on health education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and prevention of discrimination in the education and health sectors. He has worked in more than 45 countries for a range of organizations including UN agencies, national development agencies and international NGOs. He has been a Senior Program Specialist at UNESCO since 2009 in the Section of Health and Education. Mr Cornu has been coordinating UNESCO's international initiative on education sector responses to homophobic and transphobic violence since 2011.

Notes

1. General comments are available at http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/TBSearch.aspx?Lang=en&TreatyID=5&DocTypeID=11