European Trade Union Committee for Education

The Spanish ETUCE member organisation FE.CCOO  and FELGTB, the Spanish Federation of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual people, have presented a guideline targeted at adolescent students, teachers and families about raising awareness of sexual and gender affective diversity. These guidelines were presented as various stories in a comic format with an emphasis on gender diverse characters in order to draw attention to the importance of creating a safe environment in schools for LGBT individuals.

FE.CCOO and FELGTB, highlight that there is a need to work alongside students who have been victims of harassment and to help strengthen their self-esteem. Studies from FELGTB show that, 43% of harassment in schools against LGBT students results in suicidal thoughts. Likewise, findings from COGAM found that 60% of teenagers in the Community of Madrid have been witnesses of homophobic harassment. Hence, FELGTB, emphasises that the LGBT Equality Law proposal should be approved and urges the implementation of policies focusing on tackling LGBT harassment.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, states every child has the right to attend school in a safe environment. ETUCE supports the implementation of policies aimed at reinforcing equality and inclusion of all students and the importance of creating a safe and healthy learning and working environment for students, teachers and other educational personnel.

To learn more about FE.CCOO and FELGTB ’s joint forces against LGBTIphobic school bullying, please click here.

To read more about ETUCE’s statement on combatting homophobic bullying in schools, please click here.