66 per cent of LGBT children with SEN experience bullying

66 per cent of children who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transexual (LGBT) who also have a disability or special education needs (SEN) have experienced bullying, according to the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA).

Figures from the ABA show that LGBT students with a disability and those with SEN are at an increased risk of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying, although the average of all LGBT students who face bullying it still relatively high, at 55 per cent.

Qualitative research from the ABA found that many young people felt that they were not taken seriously when they reported being bullied and that teachers didn’t always understand the issues LGBT pupils faced.

Additionally, many young people said they had received little or no sex and relationships education at school that dealt with issues of being LGBT or disabled, leaving them feeling invisible and marginalised.

Lauren Seager-Smith, national coordinator of the ABA, said: “We are very concerned by reports of dual discrimination, bullying and marginalisation experienced by disabled young people that identify as LGBT+. There are clear steps we can take to change the situation – we must listen to disabled young people in our schools and act on their recommendations, fight for statutory sex and relationships education that is inclusive of all young people, and make sure our anti-bullying initiatives do not exclude those children most at risk.”

In response to these figures, the ABA has released a set of new resources to help teachers and school staff tackled HBT bullying and better understand the issues pupils face, which can be found here.