Pansexual young people most likely to face online bullying
News
Pansexual young people are most likely in the LGBT+ community to have experienced cyber bullying in the past year, according to research by Just Like Us.
Just Like Us’ independent Growing Up LGBT+ report found that almost a third (31%) of pansexual young people reported being the victims of online bullying in the past 12 months – more than any other LGBT+ group surveyed.
In comparison, more than a quarter (26%) of bisexual young people said that this was the case, alongside 14% of gay boys and 21% of young lesbians.
Only 16% of non-LGBT+ pupils reported facing online bullying in the past year – half the number of pansexual young people.
The figures demonstrate that growing up LGBT+ is still unacceptably tough.
One in three young pansexual people face tension at home on a daily basis
Nearly a third (31%) of pansexual young people surveyed reported facing tension at home on a daily basis, such as arguments with their family. Again, this was higher than any other LGBT+ group.
Non-LGBT+ young people (15%) are half as likely as pansexual teenagers to face daily tension at home.
Generally, 25% of LGBT+ young people have experienced daily tension at home.
The research also revealed that the majority (59%) of pansexual young people reported that their mental health had deteriorated during Covid-19.
Pansexual mental health
Six in ten (59%) of pansexual young people said that their mental health had got worse since the pandemic and that they are more likely to report experiencing frequent tension in the place they’re living in.
Similarly, nearly three quarters (74%) of bisexual young people felt that their mental health had got worse since the pandemic, higher than the average of 68% of LGBT+ young people and second only to young lesbians (78%).
The data further revealed that 6% of pansexual young people had experienced sexual harassment in the past year. One in ten (10%) of bisexual young people also reported unwanted sexual touching in the last 12 months, higher than any other LGBT+ group.
Just Like Us’ Growing Up LGBT+ report comprised an independent study of 2,934 pupils aged 11-18 (1,140 of whom were LGBT+) across the UK, carried out between December 2020 and January 2021.
