Prejudice-based bullying

Although prejudice and discrimination based on age is not applicable in school settings, it can affect children and young people in settings such as the workplace, in further and higher education, and in wider society.

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The Act says that a person is a disabled person (that is, someone who has the protected characteristic of disability) if he or she has, or has had, a physical and/or mental impairment that has what the law calls ‘a substantial and long-term adverse effect on [his or her] ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. 

Increased knowledge and understanding about disability and the impact it can have can help reduce bullying. The language and behaviour used may be a result of a lack of understanding about the nature of a person’s disability. People who bully others may see disabled children and young people as being less able to defend themselves and less able to tell an adult about the bullying.

There is no need for a person to have a medically diagnosed cause for his or her impairment; what matters is the effect of the impairment, not the cause. In relation to physical impairment, the following are covered by the Act

• Conditions that affect the body, such as arthritis, hearing or sight impairment (unless this is correctable by glasses or contact lenses), diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, conditions such as HIV infection, cancer and multiple sclerosis, as well as loss of limbs or the use of limbs, are covered.
• HIV infection, cancer and multiple sclerosis are covered as soon as someone has them.
• Severe disfigurement (such as scarring) is covered even if it has no physical impact on the person with the disfigurement, provided that the long-term requirement is met (see paragraph 5.108).
• People who are registered as blind or partially sighted, or who are certified as being blind or partially sighted by a consultant ophthalmologist, are automatically treated as disabled under the Act.
• Mental impairment includes conditions such as dyslexia and autism, as well as learning disabilities such as Down’s syndrome, and mental health conditions such as depression and schizophrenia.

The other tests to apply to decide whether someone has the protected characteristic of disability are as follows.

• The length of time for which the effect of the condition has lasted or will continue must be ‘long term’, which means that an impairment is likely to last for the rest of the person’s life, or has lasted at least 12 months, or the total period for which it lasts is likely to be at least 12 months. If the person no longer has the condition, but it is likely to recur, or if the person no longer has the condition, he or she will be considered to be a disabled person.
• The activities upon which the impairment has a substantial adverse effect must be ‘normal day-to-day activities’. Just because the activity is mainly undertaken at work, for example typing, does not mean that it is not a normal day-to-day activity.
• ‘Substantial’ means more than minor or trivial.
• The condition must have this impact without taking into account the effect of any medication that the person is taking, or any aids or assistance or adaptations that he or she uses, like a wheelchair, walking stick, assistance dog or special computer software. The exception to this is the wearing of glasses or contact lenses, for which it is the effect while the person is wearing the glasses or contact lenses that is taken into account.

There are special rules concerning impairments that are progressive or which have fluctuating or recurrent effects. The Act’s definition of disability is not the same as the definition of additional support needs in the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (‘the 2004 Act’), as amended. There will be some pupils who are covered by the Equality Act’s definition of disability, but not the 2004 Act’s definition of additional support needs, and vice versa, although a significant number of pupils are covered by both. However, it should be noted that a tribunal decision in 2018 means that children in schools who have a tendency to physical abuse of others as a result of their impairment are not excluded from the protection of the Equality Act.

The term ‘gender reassignment’ is a protected characteristic within the Equality Act 2010 and refers to those who propose to go through, are going through, or have gone through a process for the purpose of reassigning the person’s sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.

Gender reassignment means proposing to undergo, undergoing or having undergone a process to reassign a person’s sex. To be protected from gender reassignment discrimination, a person does not need to have undergone any medical treatment or surgery to change from their birth sex to their preferred gender.

A person can be at any stage in the transition process, from proposing to reassign sex, undergoing a process of reassignment, or having completed it. It does not matter whether or not a person has applied for or obtained a Gender Recognition Certificate, which is the legal document that enables trans people aged 18 or over to have their acquired gender recognised as their legal sex.

A child can have the protected characteristic of gender reassignment.

Whilst it is unlikely that a school-aged pupil will experience direct prejudice and discrimination as a result of being in a same sex marriage or civil partnership, there could be instances of indirect discrimination if they are associated with someone who is. This type of discrimination can also affect children and young people in other settings, such as workplaces, further and higher education and in wider society.

It is discrimination to treat a woman (including a female pupil of any age) less favourably because she is, or has been, pregnant, has given birth in the last 26 weeks, or is breastfeeding a baby who is 26 weeks or younger. It is direct sex discrimination to treat a woman (including a female pupil of any age) less favourably because she is breastfeeding a child who is more than 26 weeks old.

The motive of the school is irrelevant and it does not matter if the unfavourable treatment is conscious or unconscious.

Pregnancy and maternity discrimination includes unfavourable treatment of a female pupil based on a stereotype, whether or not the stereotype is accurate.

Children and young people from ethnic groups who are at risk of experiencing racism often experience bullying based on perceived differences in dress, communication, appearance, beliefs and/or culture as well as their skin colour and accent. This is a reflection of wider societal patterns of inequality, power imbalance and discrimination. The status of the ethnic group a child or young person belongs to – or to which people assume they belong to – in a school, community or organisation can often lead to a child or young person experiencing bullying behaviour. Bullying behaviour can arise from a misguided and learned belief that adversely racialised children and young people are less valued and ‘deserve’ to be treated differently, or with less respect. The Scottish Government has published guidance on responding to racism and racist incidents in schools.

Children and young people who are from Gypsy/Travellers communities may be at greater risk of bullying. Some bullying behaviour against these groups may be of a racist nature which, given that race is a protected characteristic, can contravene equality legislation and have hate crime implications. Perceived risks about bullying and parents’ own experiences of discriminatory and racist behaviour may lead to low levels of enrolment and poor attendance for Gypsy/Traveller children and young people as well as early exit from formal education. Other Traveller families, such as European Roma, may have similar concerns.

People who have a religion or belief, as well as those who do not, are protected under the Equality Act 2010. Religious, belief or faith-based discrimination may manifest through actions or words directed towards a person of faith or a faith community, for example, hinduism, antisemitism and anti-Sikh discrimination or happen within a religious belief, for example Muslim or Christian sectarianism. 

Prejudice may centre on aspects of traditions, beliefs and etiquette of different faiths and can lead to religious intolerance. Differences in practices of religions such as prayer times, dietary requirements, fasting and the wearing of religious clothing or articles of faith can result in misunderstandings and stereotyping, which may lead to bullying.

In some cases, racism is the underlying factor in religious discrimination against people from minority ethnic communities. For example, learners who are not Muslim may experience Islamophobic bullying or Hinduism as a result of racially stereotypical assumptions linked to their skin colour or other aspects of their appearance.

Girls and young women can be subjected to a range of behaviours by boys and young men because of gender inequality. This includes sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV). Sexism is discrimination or discriminatory language which seeks to belittle women and girls. Misogyny is the hatred of women, often expressed with hateful, sexualised language which aims to imply that women are inferior. Sexism and misogyny create a context where GBV can thrive. Girls and young women often experience bullying which is based on sexism and misogyny. Indeed, marginalised girls are at higher risk of being subjected to misogyny, which can often be combined with racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other prejudices.

Distinct is sexual harassment Sexual harassment includes catcalling, wolf whistling, sexual language, repeated asking for sexual favours, the spreading of sexual rumours, and sexualised intimidation or threat. It is important that sexual harassment is treated as GBV. The Scottish Government has published guidance on how schools can prevent and respond to gender based violence.

All these behaviours are caused by gender inequality – unequal social power between girls and boys – and create a context which can allow serious forms of violence to take place. It is often unseen and unreported. Bullying which draws on misogyny can also be directed against boys and young men, for example, ‘you throw like a girl’. Even when directed at boys, it still draws on the degradation and belittling of women, and thus causes girls further harm. It can be linked to homophobia.

Bullying based on sexual orientation is largely motivated by prejudice towards lesbian, gay or bisexual people. Homophobic or biphobic bullying is when a young person’s actual or perceived sexual orientation is used to exclude, threaten, hurt, or humiliate them. Any young person can be homophobically bullied, irrespective of their actual sexual orientation. Sometimes young people can be homophobically bullied because others think that they are LGBT, because they have LGBT family or friends or often because they are seen as different or not conforming to gender stereotypes. Transgender children and young people can therefore also experience homophobic bullying.

Homophobic or biphobic language and jokes around the school can create a climate of homophobia; for example, the use of the word ‘gay’ to mean sub-standard or have negative connotations. This type of language is prejudice-based and should therefore be addressed as part of a school culture and ethos which promotes equality and inclusion. Scottish Government and Time for Inclusive Education have produced guidance for school staff to support the implementation of LGBT Inclusive Education.

The term ‘transgender’ is an umbrella term for those whose gender identity or expression differs in some way from the sex that was assigned to them at birth. Gender identity reflects an individual’s internal sense of self as being male, female, neither or aspects of both.

Transgender people face significant societal prejudice largely because they are perceived as not conforming to gender stereotypes, expectations and norms. As a result, transgender children and young people can be particularly vulnerable to bullying.

Transphobic bullying is behaviour or language which makes a young person feel unwelcome or marginalised because of perceived or actual transgender identity or transgender expression. This can manifest in many ways including verbal abuse and slurs or deliberately mis-gendering them. An individual may also experience transphobic bullying if someone is perceived to be transgender, or someone they are associated with is transgender, i.e. a parent, relative or other significant figure. The Scottish Government has published guidance on Supporting Transgender Pupils in Schools, which includes information on transphobic bullying.