On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a colloquium was held at the Instituto de Educación Secundaria (IES) Isabel de Castilla in the capital of Ávila. The event, which also saw the participation of the President of the Junta, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, served to raise awareness about new forms of digital violence and to remind young people and adolescents about the tools available to combat it.
It was at this moment that Naia took the floor again to admit that «most of us young people are not sufficiently aware of the danger of the abuse of social networks and pornography; of the fact that when we turn off our phone, the harmful photo we shared remains on the network».
The meeting also discussed the fundamental role that the educational sphere and families must play in preventing this type of violence. «You are the generation that has to say enough is enough! You are that generation that must bet on equality, on the defense of dignity, and on zero violence against women, whether physical or digital,» the regional leader urged.
Jaime López and Naia, two young Castilians and Leónese who are part of a network of young correspondents to sensitize and prevent risks associated with gender-based violence on social media and the internet, were two of the realities exposed this Monday. «We know the theory very well, but little the practice,» they said.
In this sense, Estefanía Garrido, an advisor at the Provincial Directorate of Ávila, recalled that educational centers have «figures and tools» for when a situation of violence is detected, so it is important to raise awareness that when it occurs «it is brought to their attention».
She also reminded that the victims of these types of crimes have no age, as reflected in a recent study, which found those affected «from 12 to 88 years old».
Consuelo Rojo, in charge in Burgos of the 'Adoratrices' program for assisting women in contexts of prostitution and victims of trafficking, focused her intervention on the ease with which young people today access pornography through digital media without any kind of border, implying «that sexuality is that when in reality they are very violent practices».
At the same colloquium, María José Garrido Antón, a Civil Guard commander and criminology expert, also spoke, warning of the «growing number of digital violence» and the increasingly «worrying» «toxic», and sometimes even «criminal» behaviors.
She also stressed the importance of working on prevention, as well as making education in values a cross-cutting issue that extends to all subjects.
She recalled that the so-called new forms of macho violence that come through the internet, mobile phones, or social networks, although different from traditional violence, «amplify it, since control, harassment, and humiliation intensify and, at the same time, are more difficult to detect».
These include phone surveillance, stalking, cyberbullying, mass harassment, or 'grooming', which involves adults posing as young people to obtain sexual material, as well as the massive dissemination of intimate images without consent, closely linked to 'sextortion', or more modern forms of violence such as the creation of 'deepfakes', false sexual content created with artificial intelligence; 'doxing' or the dissemination of private information through the internet, identity theft, or the creation of fake profiles for the purpose of harassing or discrediting.
«All of this obliges us to reinforce digital education and information, as well as to adapt intervention protocols and to assume that violence through the internet is just as real and harmful as traditional violence,» she assessed.
«What happens behind a screen seems not to hurt physically, but the pain is even stronger and it costs even more to heal it,» she pointed out to those present.
Actions such as exchanging passwords «as a synonym for love» are «one of the main breaches» detected at a police level, explained this cybersecurity expert who now works at the Secretariat of State for Security. «No one dares to report when a 'sticker' of a 'vulnerable' moment arrives on their WhatsApp because if you do, they can accuse you of being a snitch or you think they are going to judge you».
