The TUI congress was silenced yesterday when a young woman delegate came to the podium to tell how she had tried to commit suicide three weeks ago after being bullied for several years.
The woman, a mother of two from the south-west, said she had been known as a "nauseatingly enthusiastic" teacher until three years ago. Then the bullying started at the hands of several senior teachers.
"I'm a strong, opinionated person, well able to stand up for myself. I always thought that people subject to bullying would be quite meek and humble," she told delegates. "But the hurt I experienced then was second to none. Every day I was ignored, shouted at, threatened and sidelined."
In this "hostile environment" her work was "constantly monitored". She was told her voice was "annoying".
"The other thing was the guilt. I came to the point where I was almost prepared to accept that this was my own fault, that I was the author of my own misfortune."
Three weeks ago, she tried to commit suicide by taking an overdose. "I'm now out of that school. I'm out and I won't go back. They've won and I've gone."