Safe Schools founder under fire for misleading comments at Pride Week seminar

SAFE Schools creator Roz Ward has come under fire for claiming up to half of young people were gay, with experts saying the figure was a “gross over-estimate”.

SAFE Schools creator Roz Ward has come under fire for recent comments in which she claimed up to half of young people were gay, with experts saying the figure was a “gross over-estimate”.

Ms Ward, who was removed as manager of the controversial anti-bullying pro­gram in March, made the com­ments as keynote speaker at a Pride Week seminar at Victoria University last month.

She said the widely accepted figure that 10 per cent of young people were attracted to their own sex was “a bit of a joke” despite the figure being used by the program.

“The stats coming out of studies that look at young people in the UK, in the US is more like 40 to 50 per cent,” Ms Ward said.

But sexual health expert Prof Juliet Richters, at the University of NSW, said Mr Ward’s comments were not accurate.

“The only studies that would produce that are voluntary online studies which always get much higher response rates from gay and bisexual people,” said Prof Richters, who has more than 30 years’ experience in the field.

“Forty to 50 per cent, that is a gross over-estimate.

“I think you have to be realistic about this even if you wish the number were bigger.”

The State Government took over the Safe Schools program late last year and severed ties with La Trobe University, where Ms Ward worked.

A spokesman for Victoria University said Ms Ward was invited to “share her insights with VU students and staff in her capacity as the former manager of the Safe Schools Coalition.”

[e-mail]

@GenevieveAlison

Originally published as Safe Schools founder under fire for misleading comments at Pride Week seminar