Rainbow Safeguarding to raise awareness for issues LGBTQ+ youths face

NPO Nijiiro Diversity and NPO ReBit published the “Rainbow Safeguarding” in June, which includes guidelines and a code of conduct to protect LGBTQ+ children, youth and people around them in Japan. These guidelines assist organizations that support children, youth, LGBTQ+ communities and their supporters to create a safe place for everyone. The guidelines also include technical definitions of LGBTQ+ and child support to help them to understand each other easily.

LGBTQ+ children and youth have a higher risk of experiencing bullying and even suicide due to their status as minorities in Japan. While most Japanese people have heard of LGBTQ+, understanding of LGBTQ+ is relatively poor. According to a survey conducted by Dentsu Inc. aimed at heterosexual people concerning awareness of LGBTQ+, 80.1% of respondents understood the term LGBT itself. However, 61.4% of the respondents don’t realize or pay no attention to some issues that members of the LGBTQ+ community face in society. In fact, Japan is the only G-7 nation to prohibit same-sex marriage.

LGBTQ+ children may also experience psychological harm when accessing child and youth support services due to a lack of awareness of LGBTQ+ issues. For instance, some children feel uncomfortable participating in events where different prizes are awarded depending on gender.

Furthermore, some LGBTQ+ support groups have also shown a lack of awareness for the needs of children and young people, causing unintentional harm. In these communities, some children and young people report feeling upset by what seniors say. For example, an asexual child was offended by seniors asking their type in public. These situations are often a result of vertical relationships, which are defined by age and rooted in Japanese culture. In addition, family members of LGBTQ+ children and young people have also reported mental distress from criticism and a lack of public awareness.

Rainbow Safeguarding was published to address these problems. It shares and raises awareness of overlooked issues the LGBTQ+ persons face by explaining specific situations on the code of conduct. For example, warning against activities with a lack of awareness like gender dividing uniforms, bathrooms, changing rooms, hotel room assignments, or compelling someone to fill in gender sections or registered names. In addition, terms like SOGIE and Coming Out are shared to support and protect the community from unconscious bias and outing.

In order to create more comfortable communities, “Rainbow Safeguarding,” a type of children and youth safeguarding that considers gender diversity, will ​​exert an important role. Increasing awareness that individuals in the community experience issues, who are invisible or unnoticed, is a crucial step forward for the country.