LGBTI equality and human rights in Europe and Central Asia

Call for proposals: data-collection of LGBTI discrimination in education

ILGA-Europe announces the 13th call for proposals within its Documentation and Advocacy fund. This call will specifically focus on data-collection of discriminatory practices, including bullying, faced by young LGBTI people in the area of education and ways to overcome them. The fund is supported by the government of the Netherlands and an anonymous donor.

Deadline for applications: 20 October 2014.

The general goals of the Documentation and AdvocacyFund are

  • to work towards LGBTI equality by gathering evidence of human rights violations and supporting evidence-based advocacy throughout Europe;
  • to promote documentation of cases of discrimination, hate crimes and other human rights violations against LGBTI people according to the international human rights documentation standards;
  • to build capacity of LGBTI organisations in Europe to monitor and document human rights violations on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression;
  • to enable the use of well-documented information for advocacy purposes at the national level;
  • to develop methodology and tools that can be replicated in other European countries for collection of reliable information on human rights violations.

Background information on LGBTI issues in the area of education:

Episodes of homophobic and transphobic bullying, abuse and discrimination of LGBTI people across Europe occur on a regular basis in various educational settings. LGBTI youth encounter more structural levels of discrimination related to the lack of representation of LGBTI issues in the education curriculum. Little information on LGBTI issues is available and there tends to be a lack of visibility, of positive role models and of safe spaces or support networks. As a result, young LGBTI people are at a particular risk of social exclusion in the education context.

Policy makers at national level in a number of European countries and some European and International Organisations such as the Council of Europe or UNESCO have started to acknowledge the problem and are willing to address discrimination at schools, school bullying and gender stereotypes and to work for inclusion and equality in educational contexts. However, they do not necessarily have the knowledge on gaps such as inclusive service provision or competences schools’ staff should acquire. In addition, a number of governments in Europe are still reluctant to tackle school bullying and do not see it as a priority.

In all those cases, evidence-based advocacy is the only way to move forward and ensure that policies are effective and achieve outcomes.

The specific goal of this call

Is to allocate grants to:

1. Collect data on school bullying (this topic should only be explored by organisations operating in countries where there is a proven gap of information in this area. Candidates should therefore provide strong evidence that the project would have an added-value in their context). There have been a lot of studies and data recently regarding school bullying. However, the picture is not complete yet. Projects can include activities such as:

  • Surveys on experiences of homophobic or transphobic school bullying in a specific region or in a group of schools
  • Surveys can be done by students themselves as part of a pedagogical project (under the supervision of a qualified researcher)
  • Structured interviews with young LGBTI people on their recent experiences of homophobic or transphobic school bullying

Or/and

2. Exploring the specific barriers faced by trans and/or intersex children and youth in the education system and identifying needs in this area. Projects can include activities such as:

  • Data collection to explore specific barriers faced by trans and/or intersex children and young people in the education system
  • Qualitative structured interviews on the impact of gendered toilets, uniforms or lack of gender recognition by the school authorities (or any other element that leads to further discrimination or stigmatisation)
  • Data collection on the specific needs of trans and/or intersex children and young people in the education area, based on structured interviews with trans and/or intersex young people.

Or/and

3. Collecting and analysing data on teachers’ and administrative staff’s competence and attitudes in the field of LGBTI issues. Projects can include activities such as:

  • Quantitative surveys to be filled in by teachers to self-assess their level of knowledge & know-how
  • Surveys to assess attitudes of personnel in schools and education training institutions

Or/and

4. Identify how curricula and textbooks refer to LGBTI issues. Projects can include activities such as:

  • Analysis of textbooks and curricula, possibility of comparisons with other regions/countries
  • Interviews with policy makers in charge of textbooks and curricula contents
  • Explore the level of ‘heteronormativity’ of curricula and textbooks

Or/and

5. Explore how the school environment is inclusive of LGBTI students and teachers’ needs. Projects can include activities such as:

  • Documentation of schools’ policies and practices around diversity (i.e. codes of conducts, parties and social events, facilities, etc.)
  • Data collection on elements of the school organisation that may lead to further discrimination or on the contrary better inclusiveness.
  • Data collection analysing whether LGBTI students take more or less advantage of educational opportunities (such as school trips, specific training, clubs, sport options, etc.)

Applicants could address one or more of the suggested topics. ILGA-Europe however recommends limiting the scope of research to areas that are clearly connected.

ILGA-Europe intends to award 7 grants of maximum 6,000-7,000 € each. Funding amounts will be determined on the basis of the scope of the project proposal, taking into consideration factors such as geographical scope, existence of co-funding, capacity to absorb funding and costs of living in the concerned country.

Methodology:

  • This call allows selected applicants to develop data collection skills in the area of education. To this end, applicants are encouraged to use methodologies already applied in different researches and resources available here.
  • ILGA-Europe’s staff remains available to facilitate information exchange on methodological tools used by its successful applicants. Many of these tools can be found on the ILGA-Europe website.
  • Applications should define vocabulary clearly and use it consistently throughout their proposal and project. The ILGA-Europe glossary may be a good starting point.
  • Applications must clearly identify the indicators they are studying and how they will gather, classify and measure the information they hope to collect.
  • Applicants are encouraged to team up to increase their know-how through peer-learning, to provide comparative data (between different countries) or to share different perspectives (between different sectors, i.e. education and human rights)

Eligibility criteria:

Under this call ILGA-Europe will support documentation methods and reporting techniques which may include on-line reporting, face-to-face interviews or interviews by phone. ILGA-Europe will also support the publication of the report to be produced as a result of the project. At minimal, all projects should include the collection of data and the production of a report on the basis of the data collected.

Application forms shall include a description of the planned activities and of the chosen reporting methodology. Your proposals will be evaluated taking into account the capacity of your organisation to implement the project.

Information on the advocacy plans that your organisation intends to carry out on the basis of the produced report will be considered as an asset for your application. Organizations are also encouraged to demonstrate how this project will support the building of internal documentation skills in relation to the field of education.

Information on your organisation’s plans to sustain in the long term the reporting and monitoring processes put in place thanks to the grant will be considered as an asset for your application.

Proposals will be accepted from LGBT organisations officially registered with local authorities or unregistered initiative groups.

The selected applications should:

  • Provide a clear methodology and outline what the objectives, added-value and expected outcomes are;
  • Allow for the documentation of new evidence on discriminatory practices and barriers in access to education of LGBTI people;
  • Enhance data collection skills in the area of education;
  • Possibly, provide an opportunity for joint work (peer-learning and/or coaching) between different civil society organisations.

The deadline for the 13th round of applications is 20 October 2014, 18.00 CET. Decisions by the Advisory Board on grants awarded will be communicated late November.

You can submit your application or ask any questions about the Fund to ILGA-Europe’s Programmes and Policy Officer Boris Balanetkii-Schlütter: boris@ilga-europe.org.

ILGA-Europe looks forward to your applications and wishes you luck!