The month that celebrates World Day of Bullying Prevention is also the starting month of the project DaC - Diversity and Childhood - Changing social attitudes towards gender diversity in children across Europe at the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra, with the double objective of preventing and combating discrimination and violence experienced by LGBTQI + children and youth.

Over the next two years, the first project to make an in-depth diagnosis of situations of discrimination that victimize LGBTQI + children in Portugal, will simultaneously propose a training package and pedagogical resources to be implemented at European level in school areas, health, families, media and in the public space.
At a time when the «Portugal + Equal» programme is under development, as part of the National Strategy for Equality and Non-Discrimination 2018-2030 approved by the Government of Portugal - which identifies Equality and Non-Discrimination as a condition for the construction of a sustainable future for the country - this research project is therefore of significant importance in helping to achieve these goals.

Funded by the European Commission until 2021, it is a European Research Consortium involving 9 countries, with an overall budget of 660000 €, which provides for the development of a set of participatory action research measures, namely, a mapping of needs, training directed at education and health professionals, journalists, law enforcement officials, social workers and families, and the creation of teaching materials.

To this end, CES (with a specific budget of 69000 €) joins the University of Girona (coordinating institution), the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) and the LGBTI rights institutions. Çavaria (Belgium), Háter Society (Hungary), KMOP (Greece), Lambda Warsaw (Poland), National LGBT Rights Association - LGL (Lithuania) and Zagreb Pride (Croatia).

In Portugal the research team includes Ana Cristina Santos (Coord.), Mafalda Esteves (Cocoord.) and Alexandra Santos, and has the support of the Ministry of Education and the exaequo network LGBTI youth association.