Violence alarm among young people, education and training are the key

In spite of an increase in knowledge of the phenomenon, to which the reaction to Giulia Cecchettin's feminicide has made an important contribution, among the youngest there is still a difficulty in recognising abuse, especially on the part of the victims themselves. In the latest survey by Fondazione Libellula, for example, it emerges that one in three Italian teenagers has suffered an episode of violence and one in five young people is unable to recognise abuse in relationships.

The difficulty, therefore, seems to be in being able to clearly distinguish the boundary between forms of love and forms of violence. The desire for possession and control, 'facilitated' by social networks and smartphones, can still be mistaken for interest. An education in affectivity, even before sex education, which finds a place in school curricula, then becomes fundamental.

Faced with numbers like those of the Milan court, for example, which tell us that for gender-oriented crimes (sexual violence, mistreatment, persecutory acts) there is a problem especially among young people, one cannot rely on spot initiatives of individual institutions. "What we are seeing is that young adults continue to perpetuate a model of male dominance in relationships," comments the president of the court, Fabio Roia.

What makes intervention on the education front even more urgent is the ever-increasing ease of access to porn videos, which replace the sexual and sentimental education of the youngest children sometimes as early as primary school when parental control is lacking. For Stefano Cirillo, a pioneering psychotherapist in the protection of minors, 'the increasing precociousness of the initiation of sexuality in the absence of sentimental literacy should be considered. Today, alongside the persistence of a traditional romantic dimension of falling in love, a vision of sexuality reduced to pure consumption, significantly conditioned by easy access to porn, has made its way'.

There is unanimous agreement on the paths to be taken, therefore: education, resources for schools, compulsory and structured sentimental education and training for teachers and school managers, of educators and educators. Good intentions are not enough, concrete actions are needed, a direct confrontation with those who already work in the field, starting with the anti-violence centres, is urgent. Changing the culture is not an abstract concept: it means learning to recognise those signs that can lead to violence, it means overcoming gender stereotypes, teaching the youngest to deal with anger and frustration even in romantic relationships, teaching respect for gender diversity in primary schools, in kindergartens. And giving language the attention it deserves.

A long and complex path that, however, has already begun to bear some fruit in the last decade. In the increase of reported cases of sexual violence among the younger generation, there is certainly also the emergence effect. Many young people, many women, are driven to report more than in the past when an attitude of omertà prevailed more frequently. Simona Lanzoni, vice-president of Pangea Onlus, taking a snapshot of the phenomenon, summarises by saying that this increase is, on the one hand, the "sign of greater emergence", and on the other hand of "a general increase in aggressiveness both on social networks and in relationships".

On the other hand, we certainly cannot forget in which adult context young people grow up: in the current year, according to the weekly data from the Ministry of the Interior, there were 98 women killed (-9%, compared to -12% of total homicides), of whom 84 lost their lives in a family/affective sphere, 51 died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner (-12%, in line with the general figure).

According to the latest ISTAT data, in 2023 the number of women killed is slightly decreasing (-7.1%), but feminicides account for about 82% of the total number of murders of women: 'For them,' says the institute, 'a stable picture is confirmed in which violent deaths occur mainly within the couple. And if the example young people grow up with is one of violence, it is very likely.

On the other hand, we certainly cannot forget in which adult context young people grow up: in the current year, according to the weekly data from the Ministry of the Interior, there were 98 women killed (-9%, compared to -12% of total homicides), of which 84 lost their lives in a family/affective sphere, 51 died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner (-12%, in line with the general figure). According to the latest ISTAT data, in 2023 the number of women killed is slightly decreasing (-7.1%), but feminicides account for about 82% of the total number of homicides of women: 'For them - says the Institute - a stable picture is confirmed in which violent deaths occur mainly within the couple'. And if the example young people grow up with is one of violence, they will most likely tend to perpetrate it.