Gender Based Violence Prevention (GBVP) Home Page
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The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Egale Canada are partnering to host Canada's First National Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Summit for secondary school students in May 2013. We’re inviting GSAs from across the country to come and make homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia history by taking part in Canada’s largest GSA Summit.  Sign up to receive more information on summit events and registration. In the meantime, you can check out who else is planning on attending, and start building networks within your local region.  |
| May 17th is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia 
Make your school safer and improve learning achievement for all !
Schools can be violent places. Although there are many examples of schools which have over the past few year consistently been working to create conducive and safe learning environments, research from many countries still reveals the general high levels of abuse, harassment and verbal or physical violence experienced by young people in schools.
The stigma, discrimination and bullying they suffer goes against their right to education . Studies have widely documented that bullying in school has a huge impact on learning achievement and dropout rates. It is a major obstacle to the right to education. The psychological damages, including low self-esteem, bear permanent marks on people’s lives and can lead to self-harming conducts, including suicide. And these unsafe environment are bad for all students Beyond the terrible impact bullying has on the children and students who are perceived as different, it creates generally unsafe, discriminatory, stigmatizing and violent school climates. These climates have proven to have very negative effects on the learning outcomes of ALL students, not only the bullied ones. It is therefore in the interest of all to reverse the situation and allow education systems to construct societies, which are inclusive of diversity and respectful of the individual.
Kids who are different from the majority gender norm suffer most from violence in schools. Violence in schools reflects wider social problems such as racism, discrimination of people with physical and mental disability , etc…. However, according to the United Nations World Report on Violence against Children (2006), most bullying is actually sexual or gender-based and targets those perceived as not conforming to prevailing sexual and gender norms. Young girls who are not ‘feminine’ enough and young boys who are not ‘masculine’ enough are specifically exposed to mockery, abuse, exclusion and violence.
It goes not only against the individuals, but it undermines gender equality objectives altogether. As this violence is bred by stereotyped gender roles (conforming to what is said to be ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’), to let it happen unchallenged threatens the whole construction of a more gender equal society.
Homo/transphobia is an entry point to tackle sex/gender-based violence Homophobia and transphobia are forms of the hatred expressed towards people because they are, or are believed to be, gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer or transgender. Homophobia and Transphobia are forms of gender-based violence because they are based on the assumption that all people should conform to the majority representation of what are ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ behaviors. This form of violence does not affect only children and students with different sexual orientation or gender expression. Surveys have shown that 80% of people who were exposed to homo/transphobic bullying define themselves as heterosexual. For teachers, fighting sex/gender-based violence is therefore an essential strategy to improve learning achievements for all and should be taken very seriously
Teachers worldwide are taking action Teachers know they about the importance of a sustainable safe and inspiring learning environment. They act everyday to provide it to their students and have often developed innovative approaches to tackling sexuality-related bullying in general, and homophobia/transphobia in particular, in the classes. Nevertheless, teachers also often experience unease in raising this specific issue. This is why this present initiative has been developed. It focuses on making use of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia as a good opportunity for action and to provide teachers with ideas, inspiration and material for action. The fact that the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is recognized by many governments and international institutions, and is marked by UNESCO, provides a good argument for teachers to take action. An international initiative around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia : the Global ‘IDAHO Lesson’
The ’IDAHO Lesson’ is an international initiative by where teachers and educational staff in all contexts are invited to use the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia to organize some specific activity in their class on this subject. While it is important to fight bullying, the initiative also suggests that homo/transphobia bullying is encouraged, if not altogether motivated, by homo/transphobic educational contents. The initiative therefore also encourages a critical examination of the curriculum. The annexes below provide many resources for teachers, according to grades and subjects and indicate organizations, which they can turn to for advice and support. The ’IDAHO Lesson’ creates an opportunity to tackle the issue of sex/gender based violence using the specific angle of homo/transphobia. Take Action ! Read the full Teacher Brief Here:
Resources for Action:
Facts and Figures:
For additional resources please see the 2011-12 Gender-Based Violence Days of Significance Resource Guide and also visit www.tdsb.on.ca/EQUITY
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| In most Canadian history classes there is little to no queer history being taught. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans students should be learning about the many historical figures who have championed the gay rights movement in Canada and paved the way for equal rights.   When Black History Month started in Canada in the mid-'90s, students began learning about fascinating people who were not in their history books. For black students it instilled a sense of pride. So why is there no Queer History Month in Canada? (It may surprise you to learn that October is LGBT History Month in the United States and it's February in the UK.) In Canada, there's certainly no shortage of queer leaders or historical turning points to learn about. Queer History Month would provide LGBT students with positive role models by celebrating the achievements of Canada's queer community. Currently there is a movement underway. The idea started on Twitter and is now a bustling project aiming to launch of a National Queer Histories Month this May. (Full disclosure: I am a member of the Queer History Month working group.) Follow @QueerHistory on Twitter. Join the Facebook group here. For more information on the project, check out the website here. Or email the working group at lgbtqhistory@gmail.com. by Andrea Houston Why is starting Queer History month important? Watch This:
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Commit Yourself to being a Queer and Trans Ally
Qualities of an Ally
Check out the You Can Play project at http://youcanplayproject.org
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| What is Gender-Based Violence?The Toronto District School Board is committed to providing each and every student with a safe, nurturing, positive and respectful learning environment. Gender-Based Violence is any aggressive action that threatens safety, causes physical, social or emotional harm and denigrates a person because of his or her gender identity, perceived gender, sexual identity, biological sex or sexual behaviour. Gender-based violence operates on a societal imbalance of power and control based on social constructions of sexual identity, sexual orientation, gender, perceived gender and sexual behaviour. This imbalance may manifest in multiple forms as aggressive and discriminatory behaviours and expressions of hatred. See |
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