Bullying of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) youth by fellow students as well as teachers is a “silent epidemic” in Guyana’s schools, a recent study has found.
“[C]hildren in school who identify themselves as LGBT [are] treated very, very badly. That’s one of the reasons there is such a presence [of LGBT persons] on the margin of the society, because they drop out,” activist Karen de Souza is quoted as saying in the report on the research, titled “TRAPPED: Cycles of Violence and Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons in Guyana,” which was launched here on Thursday.
The report represents the results of desk and field research conducted by students from the Washington, D.C-based George-town Law Human Rights Institute over the period October, 2017 to February, 2018.