Be bold, be kind, speak up!

Australia’s Bullying No Way Week is a national movement dedicated to preventing bullying in schools, workplaces, and communities, fostering a culture of inclusion, respect, and belonging.

This week, we’re sharing resources to help you be bold, be kind, and speak up, because everyone deserves to feel safe, valued, and supported.

Bullying at school can be devastating, especially for children and teens with IVSC (innate variations of sex characteristics) who may already feel different or isolated. This National Week of Action, we urge parents and carers to be bold in their advocacy, be kind in their listening, and speak up when something isn’t right.

Creating safe spaces starts at home- with open conversations, unconditional support, and fierce protection. Educators must also lead with inclusive policies, respectful language, and zero tolerance for bullying. Every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and celebrated.

Explore tools and guidance on the Interlink resource hub to support intersex youth in schools.

Workplace bullying and discrimination against intersex people often go unnoticed, but it’s real. From invasive questions to exclusion from DEI initiatives, the impact is profound and persistent.

This week, we call on employers to be bold in policy reform, be kind in everyday interactions, and speak up against bias. Inclusion isn’t optional- it’s essential. Intersex people must be protected by anti-discrimination policies, included in diversity training, and respected in every aspect of workplace culture.

The Interlink resource hub offers practical tools for individuals on how to have healthy boundaries and navigate conversations in the workplace.

It is important to know how to protect yourself in medical spaces, navigating medical bullying and advocating for respectful care.

Medical bullying can be subtle or overt. It can look like being talked over, misgendered, pressured into procedures, or having your body treated as a curiosity. For people with IVSC, these experiences are far too common.

This week, we affirm: Be bold in asserting your rights. Be kind to your body. Speak up for informed consent and respectful care. You have the right to say no. You have the right to ask questions. You have the right to care that honours your boundaries.

Visit the Interlink resource hub for support in navigating medical spaces with confidence and dignity.

There is also the bullying we do to ourselves! It’s time to consider our own internalised shame, stigma, and self-talk.

Afterall, bullying doesn’t always come from others. Sometimes, it’s the voice in our own heads. For many people with IVSC, years of silence and medical secrecy can lead to internalised stigma.

This week, we challenge that voice. Be bold in rejecting shame. Be kind to yourself. Speak up for your worth. Replace secrecy with visibility, isolation with connection, and self-doubt with pride. You are not broken. You are not alone. You are worthy.

The Interlink resource hub offers resources for healing, connection, and self-compassion.

To conclude, let’s flip the script. Intersex people are not defined by bullying, shame, or silence. We are defined by strength, creativity, joy, and pride.

This National Week of Action is about standing up—but it’s also about celebrating. Be bold in your visibility. Be kind to your story. Speak up for your community. Celebrate your body. Celebrate your journey. Celebrate your truth.

Support InterAction for Health and Human Rights as the Speak up for the Health and Human Rights of intersex people and advocate for systemic change. Visit interaction.org.au

Be supported by InterLink and the amazing resources in their Resource Hub. InterLink offers one-on-one counselling and the InterLink groups. The InterLink Peer Navigators also are available to connect you with knowledgeable services and supports. You are not alone! Visit INTERLINK – PSYCHOSOCIAL SERVICE

Join us at Intersex Peer Support Australia to connect with your peers. Together we can celebrate our lives, and build a future where intersex people are safe, supported, and free.