First Guideline: Analyze Reality, Don’t Look the Other Way
Although many schools and families prefer to deny that gender-based violence exists in the environments of young people, scientific evidence shows that it is a reality present everywhere. When extreme cases come to light, they are not accidental—they are just the tip of an iceberg that many people choose not to see, preferring to look the other way.
Second Guideline: Like in Fuenteovejuna, All Together as One
For victims to become survivors—and, even more importantly, to prevent them from ever becoming victims—it is necessary to practice bystander intervention, so that everyone becomes an upstander. In every situation of gender-based violence, there are girls and boys supporting the victim, and girls and boys supporting the aggressor. To prevent and overcome gender-based violence, it is essential that, from an early age, children avoid framing it as a war of sexes or genders.
Third Guideline: Protect the Victim Without Violence
For victims to become survivors (and, ideally, to avoid becoming victims in the first place), they must find support. That support cannot exist if isolating gender violence and attacks on those who help are not addressed. Support must be provided without violence, acting as a shield and clearly showing aggressors that their behavior will not be tolerated. Only this firm approach ensures that even aggressors have no choice but to change—first their behaviors, and later, their socialization.
Article translated from Periódico Educación
PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the best school of education in the world