“Most young people don’t realize when certain content stops being funny and becomes harmful. “We know the theory well but little about the practice.” “No one dares to report when a ‘sticker’ appears from a … A “weak” moment because if you do they might accuse you of being a snitch or think they will judge you. “Teachers end up in the hallways.” These are two of the facts presented by Jaime Lopez and Naya on Monday, that they are Castilian and Linoan that are part of Young Correspondents Network for Awareness and Risk Prevention Associated with sexual violence on social networks and the Internet. They did this in the run-up to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women at a symposium they organised Isabel de Castilla Institute of Secondary Education (IES), In the capital, Avila.
The meeting, in which the President of the Council, Alfonso Fernández Manico, also participated, helped highlight new forms of digital violence and remind young people and adolescents of the tools available to them to confront them. “You are the generation that must say enough is enough! You are the generation that must support equality, defend dignity and non-violence against women, whether physical or digital,” the regional leader said.
He pointed out that the so-called new forms of sexual violence that come via the Internet, mobile phones, or social networks, although different from traditional violence, “they amplify it, as control, harassment, and humiliation become more intense, and at the same time, they are difficult to detect.”
This is the case for phone stalking, cyberbullying, mass harassment or “grooming”, which involves adults posing as young people to obtain sexual material, as well as the extensive dissemination of intimate images without consent, which is closely related to “sextortion”, or more recent violent variants such as the creation of “deep fake sexual content” or false sexual content generated using artificial intelligence; “Defamation,” posting private information online, identity theft, or creating false profiles for the purpose of harassment or defamation.
“All of this requires strengthening digital education and information, adapting intervention protocols, and assuming that online violence is as real and harmful as traditional violence,” he said.
At the same symposium it was also possible to hear María José Garrido Antón, commander of the Civil Guard and criminologistwhich warned of the “increasing number of digital violence,” as well as increasingly “toxic,” “alarming,” and sometimes even “criminal” behavior. The cybersecurity expert, who now works for the Secretary of State for Security, explained that the procedure for sharing passwords “as a synonym for love” is “one of the main loopholes” discovered at police level. He pointed out that the victims of this type of crime are not of a certain age, as a recent study conducted showed, as their ages range between 12 and 88 years.
Consuelo Rojo, responsible for the “Adoratrices” program in Burgos Caring for women in contexts of prostitution and victims of trafficking, during her intervention she focused on the ease with which young people today have access to pornography through digital media, without any kind of limits, with the implication that “sexuality is in fact very violent practices.” He told the audience: “What happens behind the screen does not seem to hurt physically, but the pain is stronger and the recovery costs more.”
At this moment Naya spoke up again to admit that “most young people are not sufficiently aware of the seriousness of social media abuse and pornography; and that when we turn off the phone, the harmful image we share is still on the Internet.
The meeting also discussed the fundamental role that the educational environment and family must play in preventing this type of violence. In this sense, Estefania Garrido, advisor to the Avila Regional Directorate, pointed out that educational centers have “numbers and tools” when a case of violence is detected, so it is important to raise awareness that when it occurs “it is announced.” He also stressed the importance of working on prevention, as well as making education on values an occasional thing that extends to all subjects.