June 19, 2013
IGLYO
OSLO, 19th JUNE 2013 – IGLYO’s Conference “StopH8: tackling bullying in Europe” kicks off today in Oslo, Norway.
The delegates of the conference were greeted at the evening reception by Skeiv Ungdom, LLH, Bodil Jessen Houg the Ombudsperson for Bullying and School Student Union of Norway. Later in the week we will also expect the visit from Norwegian Minister of Education Kristin Halvorsen.
StopH8 conference is held in partnership with IGLYO’s Norwegian member organisation Skeiv Ungdom (Queer Youth). The event is kindly supported by the European Youth Foundation of Council of Europe, The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training and Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs.
Over thirty LGBTQ youth activists from across Europe will work together for 5 days to explore the concept and impact of bullying, formulate the strategies and minimum standards to tackle bullying in Europe.
The recent European Union wide LGBT survey showed that 2 out of 3 LGBT respondents were hiding or disguising being LGBT at school. At least 60% personally experienced negative comments or conduct at school because they were LGBT while over 80% in every EU Member State recall negative comments or bullying of LGBT youth at school.
The topic of bullying is at the heart of IGLYO’s agenda, with the StopH8 conference and the research project on the impact of homophobic and transphobic bullying on education and employment opportunities, we wish to further and consolidate the efforts to tackle harassment and bullying in Europe today.
Despina Michaelidou, the IGLYO Board member and co-ordinator of the conference has emphasized: ‘’It is alarming to hear the extent of bullying experiences that young LGBT people face around Europe. IGLYO advocates for safe and inclusive education environment for all young people regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. I wish to all the delegates a productive and inspirational meeting. We are excited to be back in Oslo”.
Line Halvorsrud, the president of Skeiv Ungdom welcomed the delegates and added “Addressing bullying is very important, because its such a big part of young people’s everyday life. We are happy hosting this particularl conference also as it marks the start of Skeiv Ungdom’s increased focus on combating bullying”.
We will post daily updates on the conference and the outcomes on the webpage www.iglyo.com and Facebook page. For more information contact Despina Michaelidou, IGLYO Board Member, at despina@iglyo.com or + 35799351526.
