About Bullying

Am I being bullied?

Bullying can take many forms and usually has these common features:

INTENT - it is deliberate!

REPEATED - it happens more than once!

HARMFUL - it causes physical or emotional harm!

POWER IMBALANCE - it can be difficult for those being bullied to defend themselves

Types of Bullying

Physical

Hitting, kicking, spitting, throwing stones or pushing. Getting another person to assault someone.

Verbal

Verbal insults, name calling, racist or sexist remarks or using your identity as an insult. Persuading another person to insult someone, spreading malicious rumours, obvious whispering.

Indirect

Threatening and obscene gestures, intimidation by staring and 'dirty looks,' sending nasty or threatening text or messages, removing and hiding belongings or deliberate exclusion from a group or activity.

Cyber Bullying (Online Bullying or E-Bullying)

This includes:

• Internet - either by e-mail or 'site victimisation' (when someone sets up an Internet site for the purpose of victimising an individual/group)
• Direct messages, picture/video clip messages

Homophobic, Biphobic, Transphobic (HBT) bullying

Which is due to sexual orientation or a 'perceived' sexual orientation.

Statistics show that many young people who are bullied on grounds of their sexuality / identity can be impacted negatively in terms of their future achievements, confidence, relationships, self-esteem, emotional, psychological, social and developmental well being.

HBT Bullying is a problem that is potentially damaging to a lot of young people whether they identify as being Gay, Lesbian, Bi or Trans or not. You can read our HBT Bullying, HBT Bullying in Schools web pages for more information and support around HBT bullying.

Sexual Bullying

Any bullying behaviour, whether physical or non-physical, that is based on a person's sexuality, identity or gender and is used as a weapon – although it is more commonly directed at girls. It can be carried out to a person's face, behind their back or through the use of technology.

For example, teasing or putting someone down because of:

• their sex life (e.g. because they haven't had sex or if they've had sex with a number of people)
• their sexuality (e.g. making fun of someone for being LGBTQ+)
• their body (e.g. the size of their breasts, bottom or muscles)
• Using words that refer to someone's sexuality in a derogatory way (like calling something 'gay' to mean that it is not very good)
• Using sexual words to put someone down
• Making threats or jokes about serious and frightening subjects like rape
• Spreading rumours about someone's sexuality and sex life – including graffiti, texts and online
• Touching parts of someone's body that they don't want to be touched
• Putting pressure on someone to act in a sexual way

It is any behaviour which degrades someone, singles someone out by the use of sexual language, gestures or violence, and victimising someone for their appearance. Sexual bullying is also pressure to act promiscuously and to act in a way that makes others uncomfortable.

These behaviours happen inside and outside school, in social groups and online. It is as serious as any form of hate crime and should be treated as such by parents, teachers and society in general.

Further Reading

You can find more detailed information and advice on different types of bullying in the 'Professionals' section of this website or through the Stonewall Website Stonewall Bullying