This project analyses the situation in the UK, Malta, Spain and Italy with regard to LGBT discrimination.
The following guide contextualises with analytical data how the abusive use of social media and ICTs (and how the rise of social media and ICTs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic) affects the population of the countries studied.
Bullying is defined as: ``arrogant and oppressive behaviors towards most weak and vulnerable people´´ and is derived from the term bully, which defines a ``person who carries out acts of violence (verbal or physical) against another person, to mock, to exclude and to offend and to look for approval. Those who persecute are driven by the perception they are more important, more “cool”, stronger, just because older or physically stronger, or because they have a more expansive character.´´
This type of discrimination occurs in the school environment and can affect the person outside the school environment because of the telematic connection through ICTs.
If we look at the figures for this practice in the UK, we find that
around one in five children aged 10 to 15 years in England and Wales (19%) experienced at least one type of online bullying behaviour in the year ending March 2020; More than half (52%) of those children who experienced online bullying behaviours said they would not describe these behaviours as bullying, and one in four (26%) did not report their experiences to anyone.
``Data from UK studies´´
These are figures that we do not currently know for Malta, as there are no official studies as in the case of the United Kingdom. However, we can say that the National School Support Services opened 247 cases from the 2020 period. However, no distinction is made as to whether any of them are LGBTphobic or not. MGRM says that despite surveys among the LGBTIQ community consistently showing a 12% incidence of threats and violence experienced by respondents, official reports to the police are not forthcoming. To our knowledge no case has been brought forward by the police, who in Malta act as the prosecution, as a hate crime on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics since the introduction of the legal provisions.