This month, we'll be talking again about violence against women and children, what's called "vicarious violence." We're seeing how male chauvinist violence is increasing, and we talk about it a lot, but nothing is being done about it. Now, in many cases, it's underage boys who feel entitled to perpetrate it and even attack it online, which shows us how the most aggressive form of sexism is becoming fashionable.
The usual explanation for the increase in sexual violence is the very early access of new generations to pornography. And it's true: pornography is mostly based on violent sexism, and it presents sexual pleasure not as a shared game but as an increasingly savage domination of women, in which they are portrayed as submissive and obedient, and apparently find the source of their satisfaction. And of men, of course, who through sex assert their dominance and the priority of their desire. But beyond pornography—which clearly needs to be addressed—we must look for other reasons.
Sexuality is a strange, extremely important area of our lives, and at the same time, it's still a taboo, even though everything seems to have changed so much. During the dictatorship, sexuality was Forbidden and repressed, with a sinful scent that the Church constantly reminded everyone of. Suddenly, with the unveiling And during the years of the Transition, sex became a symbol of freedom: its display in the media and in films ceased to be a sin and became the sign of a new, uninhibited society. However, all of this was not accompanied by the corresponding education, neither for families, nor for schools, nor even for the media, which were the ones who talked about it the most, although always during supposedly adult audience hours.
Young people have found themselves with an attractive, mysterious territory to explore, but without any kind of guidance. It should come as no surprise that they seek information wherever they can. The result is disastrous. And all because throughout these fifty years, the Church has continued to oppose sex education. I speak of the Church because of its predominance among us. Religions—the most misogynistic institutions that still exist—continue to consider sex as sinful territory and women as instigators of sin; it is necessary to restrain them. And under this pretext, they are profoundly opposed to our freedom, lest they lose the last audience over which they still have influence.
Sex education should be in schools. And in families, obviously, but we have no certainty that families are doing it right. A couple of years ago, I did a small survey on the topic among young women—many of them university students from middle-class families. The results showed that mothers still don't talk to their daughters about sexuality, which remains a taboo surrounded by a kind of shame that neither pornography nor the constant sex scenes in movies and TV series have managed to dispel.
All attempts to systematically introduce sex education in schools have been futile. I know there are schools that address it and do it very well, but they are a minority and, at the same time, depend primarily on the willingness of a conscious and engaged teaching staff. How many times have teachers told me that this isn't their job, that it's the family's responsibility, that no one has prepared them for these issues?
Five years ago, when the LOMLOE law was passed, it seemed that a solution would finally be found. This law doesn't shy away from the topic; it literally states that among its objectives is "sex education, adapted to the developmental level, and the prevention of gender violence..." Bravo! Well, five years have passed. What has been done? What training do teachers receive to address this subject? What has the Ministry of Education done to make it a reality? I know that any step in this direction clashes head-on with the usual barbarians, who now include not only the Church, but also an extreme right wing that uses antifeminism and the exaltation of machismo to gain followers among young people.
A few years ago, complaints brought down the Skolae project in Navarre due to misleading advertising that claimed its aim was to teach children how to masturbate. But the Ministry of Education must rise above these threats, and society must demand, once and for all, to prevent the greater evils we are seeing with increasing frequency, serious, well-designed sex education that reaches all young people. Less lamentation and more action, please!
