Transgender and students of homosexual orientation, as well as their peers - persons with disabilities, faced with the content of the literature used in some schools and colleges, could get the impression that something is wrong with them or that they do not exist. Official literature either does not recognize these categories or, if they are mentioned in textbooks, people with disabilities are treated as persons who should be placed in institutions and kept away from society. Textbook LGBTQ people are told they are deranged.
Such a relationship, according to the interlocutors of "Vijesti", has influenced the treatment of individuals in the past, and if something does not change, something like this can be expected in the future as well.
The year is 2020, terminology like "idiot", "imbecile", "moron", "moron"... has long been overcome and outdated even in the professional public, the profession has long since changed its attitude when it comes to homosexuality, but - literature and textbooks from which young people are educated in some educational institutions in Montenegro are still either full of outdated definitions or do not deal with some topics at all.
"When I was in medical school, we were taught that homosexuality and transgenderism were disorders, which for homosexuality had already been disproved for decades. This had a direct impact on my treatment at school, as well as the lack of support from the administration, teachers, parents and peers during the entire year when I experienced violence because of my gender expression," Jovan Dzoli Ulićević, one of the founders, told "Vijesta" "Spectra" and an activist for human and transgender rights.
That the literature from which young people in Montenegro learn about LGBTIQ, people with disabilities and their rights is still problematic today, the Association of Disabled Youth of Montenegro (UMHCG) pointed out, after only superficially analyzing some of the textbooks used in secondary schools and colleges.
Thus, in the textbook "Neuropsychiatry" for the third year of secondary medical school, the authors use expressions such as "moron", "imbecile"...
"Based on the materials we had access to, we only made a brief analysis of their content, in relation to the terminology and approach to disability used in them. Certainly, all this that we came across would require an in-depth analysis, because the examples in some textbooks are only the tip of the iceberg of the way in which disability is presented in the educational system and curricula", Anđela Radovanović from UMHCG told "Vijesta", adding that in the same literature, in addition to the attitude towards disability, there is an offensive and equally discriminatory and negative attitude towards some other groups, such as members of the LGBTIQ community.
"Which goes as far as equating homosexuality with the worst sexual crimes. This is quite worrying for the educational system of a society that should promote and encourage diversity instead of further deepening it," she said.
When asked what specific objections there were to the content, she said that it was "a series of offensive terms" - moron, moron, idiot, dwarf, and the wrong perception of disability.
"Disability is seen as a problem, something that needs to be treated, or people who have it 'repair their functions', and if this is not possible, then people with disabilities should be placed in institutions where someone else would 'take care' of them and keep them away from society," said Radovanović.
The "Neuropsychiatry" textbook, which was reported to the UMHCG as problematic by students of the Medical School and members of that association, was published in 1999, by the Belgrade Textbook Institute. In 1992, the same publisher also published the textbook "Psychology", and in 2011, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality of Serbia criticized that literature. At that time, she gave recommendations to the Government of that country to remove discriminatory content from teaching materials and practice, and stated that classifications such as "moron", "idiot"... must be completely removed from the official literature.
"This terminology, as well as the 'categorization' of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, has long been overcome and outdated in the professional public as well. It is full of prejudices and predetermined (and assumed) capacities and capabilities of these persons. Apart from the terminology being completely incorrect (over time the terms 'moron', 'imbecile', 'idiot' became part of slang, i.e. terminology that belittles and insults people), the biggest problem with this lesson is the approach to children/people with intellectual disabilities, which is medical, based on segregation and determining what a person cannot do, and therefore they are rejected as equal participants in life... Let's imagine that this class is attended by a student with intellectual disabilities and what is the relationship between the teacher and peers according to him/her)", it is stated, among other things, in the recommendations.
Speaking about the harm caused by educating young people from similar literature, Radovanović told "Vijesta" that it "contributes to the entrenchment of prejudices and stereotypes".
"Which towards people with disabilities are already sufficiently expressed in society, and an image is created of the PWD as someone who is not capable of contributing to society, but is a burden and someone who needs to be taken care of. In this way, the gap between people with disabilities and people without disabilities only deepens, which in the future creates negative consequences for everyone. People without disabilities begin to avoid PWDs, fear and repulsion are created, and PWDs become more passive and withdrawn due to fear of rejection and lack of support for self-acceptance of disability and development of self-confidence," she said.
In the "Spektra" association, they did not analyze the content of official literature and textbooks from which pupils and students learn, but Ulićević says that the organization's research "To ring violence: Guidelines for creating a safe school space for gender diversity" shows that high school students know little about gender , gender and sexuality.
"Half of the students believe that sex and gender are the same, most of them do not know which biological structures determine one's gender, and there is an extremely high degree of prejudice in relation to gender differences between men and women. Namely, 83% of high school students believe that men and women think differently, while half believe that they have different intellectual abilities", said Ulićević.
According to him, these data are important because "knowledge about sex, gender and sexuality is necessary for a better understanding of transgender, gender variant and intersex people".
The research also showed that almost every second high school student does not want or thinks that he does not want to know anything more about transgender people, and that LGBT topics should not be represented in educational programs.
"These are some of the data that indicate the necessity of revising the curriculum and developing a new approach that will encourage the development of critical awareness, which is necessary for nurturing a safe school environment in which differences are accepted, instead of tolerated at best," says Ulićević.
He adds that "adequate information is important for society as a whole."
"And especially for young people who, through the education system, form their attitudes and behaviors that will shape society. Incorrect or half-correct information is easily manipulated, as we witness every day. "If our young people receive incorrect information that has long been refuted by scientific consensus, they form discriminatory opinions about marginalized groups, and therefore they are more prone to violence," he said.
Through education and against peer violence
According to the results of the research conducted by Spektra, 57 percent of respondents believe that LGBT people are exposed to physical violence very often or sometimes in the school environment, 72 percent of respondents said that LGBT people are exposed to ridicule, 66 percent that they are exposed to rejection and 68 percent psychological violence of peers.
"These are worrying data that show the importance and key role of the education system in preventing violence and developing solidarity," said Ulićević. Radovanović from UMHCG said that where peer violence is expressed, if a person is not aware of himself and his rights, it will be difficult for him to deal with the violence or to even recognize that he is a victim.
"With the attitude of the education system that views disability or any diversity extremely negatively, it is unlikely that people with disabilities will be able to recognize violence and react to it, nor will they receive the support they need to deal with it. In addition, without creating an adequate attitude towards disability among pupils and students without disabilities, including teaching about the rights of PWDs that would be implemented by PWDs themselves, meetings and open communication and discussion about differences, it will be difficult to prevent such situations," she said.
Human rights are not taught through electives
Ulićević complains about the way in which not only topics about LGBT, but also other marginalized groups are treated in the literature.
"They are not processed adequately, long enough, or substantially. Topics related to gender, sex and sexuality, and therefore to gender equality and human rights of marginalized groups, cannot be taught exclusively in optional subjects, or through one or two lessons, and expect education to provide adequate information in order to prevent peer violence. eliminated, and young people really demonstrated the acceptance of all differences. Apart from this, there is a lot of outdated literature, such as the literature used in the Secondary Medical School, which still talks about lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people in a pathologizing way", he said.
For a possible initiative for changes in the literature, as he said, knowledge of the current situation is necessary.
"First of all, a detailed analysis of the curriculum is needed, in order to seek a systematic change of the literature, not the exclusion of individual content, and to create the image that such content no longer exists due to such individual exclusions. Education reform, which implies not only the removal of discriminatory content that has long been refuted by the scientific consensus as facts, but also a systemic approach that implies the development of a critical approach, media literacy and civic education, which will strengthen the common understanding of why understanding is important for society as a whole and acceptance of diversity", said Ulićević.
UMHCG said that when it comes to changes in literature, the responsibility lies with those who create curricula and propose literature from which high school and university students learn.
"In the coming period, we will continue with the education of the teaching staff, after which we expect some initiatives to be initiated by the teachers and professors themselves, in addition to us. Unfortunately, there is a small number of those who are sufficiently educated and aware of these issues, since master's studies in inclusive education were organized in inaccessible premises until recently. In addition, at the faculties, future teachers and professors through psychological, pedagogic and methodical subjects learn from textbooks that contain similar terminology, and in this way acquire a wrong image of people with disabilities, thus creating a vicious circle from which it's hard to get out," said Radovanović.
As a problem, he says, he also sees the fact that inclusive education is being organized as an integrated study program of the Faculty of Philosophy and Medicine from this study year.
"So the human rights-based approach is being called into question again," she said.
In 1950, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared December 10 as Human Rights Day.
Two years earlier, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed, the first article of which reads - "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights"...
Programs and textbooks are not neutral
Aleksandar Saša Zeković, the author of the book "Montenegro Educational Policy and Sexual Orientation", in which the representation of LGBT topics in school programs and textbooks is analyzed, told "Vijesti" that educational programs in Montenegro "provide textbook authors with enough creative freedom and space for affirmation of gender and sexuality education".
"And topics necessary for developing an open personality, ready to understand and accept those who are different from themselves. Another issue is that not all authors used the given freedom in a responsible and professional manner," Zeković said.
He also said that educational and textbook policy in Montenegro, "not even before, and especially not now", cannot be viewed in isolation from the overall political, social and economic context.
"That is why we can say that the subject programs and especially the subject textbooks that accompany them are not neutral. Acceptance of LGBT people in the overall political context is mostly ignored, not opened up or underestimated. It is a topic that belongs to 'other', 'less important' or 'divides society'. Such an approach is also manifested in the educational system. If the textbooks were completely neutral and professional, they would, without reservation, be equally oriented, with appropriate contents, to the adoption and respect of all human rights and freedoms", he said. Content analysis of textbooks, he said, showed that Montenegrin textbooks as a whole promote human rights, but also that there are no socially sensitive topics in them. "Our textbooks do not have negative content about sexual orientation, but they mostly ignore it," Zeković said.
He also said that it is important not to allow the use of textbooks that are outdated and unacceptable in terms of science and respect for human rights, and that it is necessary to innovate the existing editions.
"Determining someone's gender identity is inadmissible"
"Spektra" reacted yesterday because at the repeated trial in the case of the attack on Vuk Adžić, an expert opinion on his transgenderism was required, which the NGO assessed as "an attempt to discredit his gender identity and the validity of his testimony".
"Trans and gender-variant people are the target of violence and discrimination every day in society. Our community has a long history of pathologization and stigmatization, which officially ended with the deletion of the F.64 diagnosis. from the new edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) adopted by the World Health Organization in 2018", they said from "Spektra".
They announced that "any expert examination of transgenderism and determination of one's gender identity is inadmissible" and called on the competent Basic Court in Kolašin to immediately prevent such practice.
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