Photo/Illutration Mika Yakushi, head of ReBit, a certified nonprofit organization that promotes LGBTQ understanding in schools and businesses, speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on June 4. (Yoshika Uematsu)

Teachers and staff members are responsible for more than half of the incidents of harassment and other difficulties experienced by schoolchildren who are sexual minorities, a survey by a nonprofit organization showed.

ReBit, a certified NPO that holds classes to promote LGBTQ understanding in schools and businesses, said there is no end in sight to the suffering of these children.

It said the survey results show that the law for the promotion of LGBT understanding, which was enacted in 2023, has not penetrated schools around Japan.

The group announced the results of the survey at a news conference in Tokyo on June 4.

The online survey was conducted in February and March this year. Valid responses were received from 4,733 individuals between the ages of 12 and 34 who are sexual minorities.

Of them, 25.4 percent were junior high and high school students.

According to the results, 89.5 percent of junior high and high school students experienced harassment or other difficulties at school during the past year, and 63.8 percent of them said the perpetrators were teachers and staff members.

The main forms of harassment included “assuming I am not LGBTQ,” “unnecessary gender separation,” and “being made fun of.”

In addition, 40.1 percent of junior high school students and 24 percent of high school students experienced bullying or violence in the past year.

The situation got so bad that 23.6 percent of junior high school students and 10.2 percent of high school students stopped going to school, the survey showed.

Moreover, 58.2 percent of junior high and high school students did not want to go to school.

The rates of truancy in the survey were three to four times higher than the percentages in a nationwide survey released last year by the education ministry.

In the ReBit survey, 94.6 percent of junior high and high school students said they did not feel comfortable consulting with their homeroom teachers.

The most common reasons given were: anxiety that the homeroom teacher might tell other teachers or parents without permission; and the situation would not change or worsen even after consultations.

“Children have less of a say than adults in deciding where to live, so if their schools and homes are not safe, they will have a very hard time living,” said Mika Yakushi, head of ReBit. “It is important to change the system and also promote understanding among adults around children.”

The survey also revealed that more than half of the teenagers had considered suicide, and more than 60 percent of those employed have experienced difficulties or harassment in the workplace.

Details of the survey are available here: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000073.000047512.html

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