Laws prohibiting violence against LGBTQIA+ youth

Even though India had abolished Section 377 two years ago, the stigma and shame around the LGBTQIA+ community remain widespread. One can see such incidences happening across India. In another incident, a trans woman died by suicide in Pune in August of 2020, after having faced harassment. Two gay lovers died by suicide in Assam in 2021, following their families’ objection to their relationship and marriage. Another gay man, Avinshu, who used to work at a salon, too died last year, citing homophobic bullying as a reason. Actual numbers might be even higher than the ones that come under the radar, considering how most of these cases go unreported. UNESCO has recognised that people who perceive themselves to be different are more likely to be bullied. Being different could mean not conforming to the gender norms, acceptable societal standards of physical appearance, race, nationality, or color. On similar lines, WHO classified LGBTI as a vulnerable population group, who are at a relatively higher risk of committing suicide due to the bullying, harassment, and abuse.

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Homophobic Bullying in Educational Institutions and Workplaces:

Harassment among LGBT students starts as early in primary schools, the Sahodaran-UNESCO research study stated in 2018. Around 60 percent of the students who identify as LGBT faced bullying in middle or high school, whereas 43 percent of the students reported being sexually harassed. However, only 18 percent of the students report such instances to the authority, whereas 33 percent of them drop out of the schools. Another study explained that 73 percent of LGBTQ adolescents experience bias-based bullying for various reasons beyond their sexual orientation, including body weight, religion, caste, etc.

 

These bullying instances are not limited to schools and colleges but continue to go on in adult life. Stigma and exclusion are two critical factors behind this discrimination, which further leads to economic losses. Another report by the World Bank in 2014 revealed that India is losing around 31 billion dollars due to these factors.

 

Legal regulations: 

Court judgments in recent years have laid the groundwork for better protections from bullying against the LGBTQI+ individuals, and the Indian government’s stance on community rights has evolved considerably. But much more is needed to protect people on the basis of SOGI in India. Two reports published in 2019 shed much-needed light on the experiences of sexual and gender minority youth in India’s schools. UNESCO, the United Nations education agency, and the International Commission of Jurists, an NGO, have each published harrowing in-depth reports on the plight of LGBTQI+ Indians.

 

UNESCO’s research focused on youth and school environments – with education analyzed as a precursor. “Educational and training opportunities are often denied to LGBTQ persons due to harassment, bullying, and violence,” ICJ found, citing absence of gender-neutral school uniforms as well as toilets, and difficulties in obtaining accurate identity documents as barriers for the students. “Accounts of bullying in schools were common,” the report read. I also detailed cases of teachers beating and berating male students for acting “too effeminately,” and forcing transgender students to sit separately from their cis-gender peers. This is why more regulations and laws are needed to protect the LGBTQI+ youth in India. 

 

India is still in the aftermath period of the abrogation of Section 377, and the implementation of additional laws for the welfare of the community individuals will take time, according to media reports. There are, at present, no laws to prohibit bullying against youth of  the community, no penalty/fine for offenders, etc. in the country. Independent educational institutions can implement policies to curb such unwelcome practices. The University Grants Commission also recognised gender identity and sexual orientation as grounds for ragging among college students in 2016 while amending the Anti-Ragging regulations but, according to media sources, most Indian universities are unaware of it. In Gujarat, community activist Maya Sharma of Vikalp has also been working to ensure that the 2016 amendment is implemented.