Survey: Queer children face maximum discrimination, bullying at homes, schools
Guwahati: A recent survey found that LGBTQIA+ children and adolescents face the highest levels of discrimination and bullying in their own homes, schools and neighbourhoods, with activists and stakeholders urging for concerted efforts to address these issues to help them get equal opportunities.
A recent survey of over 900 LGBTQ+ individuals by a Kolkata-based organisation, ‘Bridge’, which works for the rights of the community across Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal, reported that most bullying happens between the ages of 12 and 15 years.
Many young people are forced to drop out of school, losing out on education, future employment, and income security, Bridge’s founder director Prithviraj Nath told news agency.
“Even after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2018, the NALSA judgment in 2014, and Transgender Protection Act of 2019, LGBTQ+ people continue to face systematic exclusion in education, health care, workplaces, and public life,” he said.
Basic human rights still remain out of reach for many and it is extremely important that we bring to light the lived realities and challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community, and have dialogues with the larger society towards equal rights and inclusion of the community, Nath added.
Rudrani Rajkumari, founder of ‘Xomonnoy’, an LGBTQIA+ rights organisation and support group, pointed out that the government and all stakeholders must make collective efforts to create a roadmap to reduce discrimination and promote equal rights.
“We cannot talk about human rights in India and leave out LGBTQIA+ citizens. Every child deserves safety in their home, respect in their school, and dignity in their workplace. Equality is not a favour, it is a constitutional promise,” Rajkumari said.
Former vice principal of Guwahati’s Dispur College, Sunita Agarwalla, claimed that it is one of the pioneer institutions in Assam, having done commendable work for the education of the children from the community. Besides having a gender-neutral toilet, it has reserved seats for such students in both its higher secondary and degree courses, with education being free if such a student needs it and sensitisation programmes are also for all its students regarding the issues of the community, she said.
“I, as an educator, feel that it is very important to understand that people from the LGBTQIA+ community are also human beings and citizens of our country, so they have to be treated equally by everyone in every aspect,” Agarwalla said.
Lalit Chandra Bharali College’s professor Kunjalata Brahma Bhatiri said that more and more people are voicing their support for equal treatment of people from the community and judgement-free spaces, but a collective and concerted effort from all stratas of society is needed. WITH AGENCY INPUTS
