Authorities in Britain should take greater measures in assessing the prevalence of bullying and monitoring the work carried out in schools to address it, a study by the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggested.
The report entitled Prevention and Response to Identity-Based Bullying Among Local Authorities was commissioned by the EHRC and carried out by Goldsmiths, University of London.
Its findings were based on a review of academic literature, interviews with national anti-bullying organisations and a survey of all local authorities (LAs), using data from England where the response rate was 38 per cent.
The report found almost all LAs (95-97 per cent) recommended that their schools record and report incidents of bullying based on race or ethnicity, reflecting current statutory requirements.
Between 77 and 81 per cent stated that schools were also recommended to record bullying related to sexual orientation, gender, disability, learning disability and religion or belief, and between 58 and 65 per cent of bullying related to gender identity, Gypsy, Roma and Travellers, and asylum seekers or refugees.
But a much smaller proportion also encouraged schools to report these incidents to LAs. Approximately 95 per cent of LAs recommend reporting of race and ethnicity incidents, compared with 42 per cent for disability, 40 per cent for learning disability, and only 26 per cent for gender identity.
However, despite making recommendations, the report found almost one half of LAs do not monitor whether schools are meeting them, raising questions over the extent to which LAs are aware of how schools are addressing and tackling identity-based bullying.
It revealed although three quarters (75 per cent) of LAs said they had evidence relating to the prevalence of racist bullying in schools, less than 40 per cent had evidence for other types of identity-based bullying relating to sexual orientation, Gypsies and Travellers, gender, and religion or belief.
Fewer still had evidence relating to bullying of disabled children, asylum seekers and refugees, and children with learning disabilities (26-30 per cent), and only 12 per cent of LAs collected evidence relating to gender identity.
The report set out recommendations, including the need for: LAs to gather more evidence on the extent of identity based bullying; more guidance for LAs to tackle bullying in their schools; a preventative strategy which considers all the equality strands and focuses on tackling prejudice.
It drew on existing Department for Education data, including a study in 2010 of 15,000 young people which found almost half (47 per cent) of pupils reported being bullied at the age of 14, with this figure dropping to 29 per cent by the time participants had reached 16.
Name-calling was the most commonly reported form of bullying, followed by violence, social exclusion and being forced to hand over money or possessions.
Additional Department for Education from 2010 revealed that of over 250,000 six-to-10-year-olds, just under half had been bullied at school and 20 per cent away from school.
Two-fifths of those who were bullied in school and one third of those bullied outside said it occurred at least once a week.