Clinical
Preventing Transphobic Bullying and Promoting Inclusive Educational Environments: Literature Review and Implementing Recommendations

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Background

Transgender individuals are often targets of abuse, bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence at school, which causes significant personal suffering and serious consequences for their education process. Research suggests that structural interventions and changes are needed to reduce these phenomena and ensure that schools function as protective and secure learning environments for sexual minorities.

Aim

This study presents a review of international interventions/programs focused on reducing bullying and promoting inclusive educational environments for transgender youths.

Methods

An extensive literature search in English and Spanish was undertaken using the electronic database of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, SciELO and LILACS (1990–2018).

Results

Several international programs, guidelines and projects aimed at preventing bullying against sexual minorities (including the transgender population) in school environments were described. Recommendations and barriers to consider in the development and implementation of bullying prevention interventions in a range of school settings are discussed.

Conclusions

Evidence suggest important positive benefits associated with attending schools that have anti-bullying or inclusive policies for gender minorities, such as the improvement of school wellbeing, more positive school climate, decreasing truancy, lower levels of victimization, decreased school harassment and increased feelings of safety. However, more research is needed to follow up on the various programs and interventions described in this study, to determine whether they have been implemented and what their actual long-term impact has been. The normalization of transphobia and tolerance for sexual minorities requires the attention of public policies in education strategies designed to deconstruct gender stereotypes and eradicate transphobia among adolescents.

Introduction

Transgender people experience profound discomfort with their sex assignment because it differs from their own sense of their gender identity (1, 2, 3). Most transgender people face enormous challenges due to their gender non-conforming, experience multiple types of violence (whether physical, psychological, sexual or economic, transphobia and bullying), and face systematic oppression, repeated victimization and devaluation as a result of the social stigma attached to their gender nonconformity, which begin at an early age and persist throughout life across different contexts (home, work/school, health care settings and public places) (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22). Experiences of violence and rejection can negatively impact transgender youth's mental health (leading to suicide attempts, substance abuse, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder), causing increased vulnerability to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, limited access to education and employment, and a loss of opportunities for economic and social advancement (7,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30).

Transphobic bullying is a specific type of violence against transgender people as a result of their sexual orientation, gender identity, and the way they express their gender identity, that represents a structural problem that occurs in nearly all schools (12,14,23,26,31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36). Data from a national sample of transgender students in the United States show that nearly nine out of ten transgender youth have been victimized at school, while over a quarter have been physically assaulted because of the way they express their gender identity (37). Robles R, et al., (11) have shown that over half of all transgender people reported experiences of social rejection (mostly discrimination and physical aggression) related to their gender identity by schoolmates and friends, which, in turn, was associated with higher levels of distress and social, familial, and work/school dysfunction. Moreover, a recent study showed that a higher proportion of those who sought to be treated as the desired gender by school peers more frequently reported experiences of violence and social rejection due to their gender identity than those who hid their gender nonconformity, aggression being the most common form of rejection from school peers (Domínguez-Martínez et al., 2019. In progress).

Being a victim of bullying as a result of homo/transphobia causes significant suffering in the lives of children and adolescents (who are precisely at the developmental phase in which identity and personality are being formed). This entails severe long-term consequences for the education of those who suffer it, as a result of which there is usually a drop-in school performance and an increase in absenteeism, which can ultimately lead to school failure and even school dropout (14,38, 39, 40). Furthermore, intolerance and violence towards sexual diversity affect family dynamics and, in extreme cases, can even cause death as a result of either suicide or hate crimes (41).

Educational institutions have a key role to play in preventing bullying and promoting respect for diversity as a social value, because they are the places where children and adolescents spend most of the day, and learn what is or is not appropriate and permitted in society (42). Although all students have the same right to a quality education in a safe school environment, the fact is that educational institutions can be stressful and extremely dangerous places for sexual minority youth, who often feel unsupported and unsafe in this setting (17,32,33,38).

Increasing international attention has been paid to the experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students at schools, and there has been growing concern regarding anti-LGBT violence and bias directed at youth as a serious human rights issue and barrier to global development goals (43). UNESCO has recently articulated the need for more research on LGBT students globally, particularly in developing countries, and begun to host new initiatives, including the first-ever international consultation on homo/transphobic bullying in schools, which suggests that in many countries, civil society and nongovernmental organizations have played an important role in addressing homo/transphobic bullying by documenting the extent of the problem, thereby providing the evidence base for advocacy and program development (28,29).

The purpose of this study is to provide a review of the literature on the development of interventions, programs, projects and guidelines focused on preventing or reducing transphobic bullying and promote inclusive educational environments for transgender youth. The first section briefly describes the aims and strategies of several programs, guidelines and projects aimed at preventing violence and bullying against sexual minorities (including the transgender population) in school environments, which have been implemented in various countries worldwide. Secondly, based on the guidelines and results of the implementation of different programs and interventions described in the first section, we present some recommendations to promote inclusive school environments free of violence for transgender youth, as well as the barriers that should be considered in order to achieve the successful implementation of bullying prevention interventions in a range of school settings.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

An extensive literature search was undertaken using the electronic database of MEDLINE, PsycINFO, SCOPUS, SciELO and LILACS (1990–2018). Additional searching of clinical and educational guidelines and/or handbooks related to the topic was also performed. The search was conducted in both English and Spanish, using the terms “violence”, “bullying”, “transphobia”, “transgender”, “transsexual”, “trans”, “gender non-conforming”, “gender dysphoria”, “LGBT”, “sexual minorities”, “sexual diversity”,

Results

Interventions, Programs, Projects and Actions for Prevent School Bullying Against Sexual Minorities (Including the Transgender Population).

Research suggests that structural interventions are required to reduce violence against transgender people and many changes must occur for schools to function as protective and secure learning environments for sexual minorities. Interventions described in the literature include universal prevention programs in school settings that involve all students,

Discussion

In recent years, bullying as a social phenomenon has gained greater visibility and become part of public awareness as a problem demanding immediate attention, especially for LGBT people who are constantly victims of it (80). Bullying discourse has gained prominence in educational contexts and in the public awareness and, as a result, in many countries there have been major legislative developments based on human rights and equality directives to tackle discrimination, marginalization and social

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