Mar Venegas
Dpt Sociology, Faculty of Education
Sciences, University of Granada, Spain
[email protected]
How Can Sex and Relationships Education Help
Combat Gender-Related Violence?
Seminars on ‘Violence and Young People: Approaches to
Study and Intervention’,
CYWS, Brunel University London
Why establish this link
between SRE – coeducation
– GV?
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
Gender-related Violence in Spain
The case of adolescence
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender
violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
What is gender-related violence?
 Gender-related violence is a particular kind of violence perpetrated on women
as a result of their historical position of socio-structural inequality.
 This violence can be, therefore, physical, symbolic, economic, labour, affective,
sexual, etc.
 Thus, gender-related violence is not only physical maltreatment, but all social
practices, either material or symbolic, reflecting such a structural inequality.
 Ultimately, gender-related violence is a form of gender discrimination, caused
by biological, anatomical differences between women and men, which have
been regarded as arguments to legitimate structural inequality throughout
history.
 When structural inequality is embodied in institutionalised practices it leads to
gender discrimination.
 Understood this way, gender-related violence is a manifestation of gender
discrimination, among which physical and psychological violence are its most
extreme forms.
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
Sex and Relationships Education
in Spain
Educación Afectivosexual
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
SRE
 Spanish afectivosexual: links between affect and sexuality
 Afectivo: qualifies, either positively or negatively, all social relations
 Sexual: sexual relationship, wide variety of sexual practices, the body is defined
as a sexualised whole
 Afectivosexual: relational dimension of sexuality,
 affection and sexuality linked to respect, communication, pleasure, as well as to
reproduction
 SRE: English equivalent
 ‘learning about sex, sexuality, emotions, relationships, sexual health and ourselves.
 The term […] represents learning about sex and relationships in all settings
including home, care, community, youth, secure, school and other educational
settings’ (SEF 2003, 1).
 Alldred (2012, 375): ‘Editing in English […] inevitably risks requiring one’s
cultural Others to make themselves meaningful in English and explain practice
in relation to sex education in the UK or Anglophone countries’.
(Mar Venegas (2013): Sex and relationships education and gender equality: recent experiences from Andalusia (Spain),
Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning, DOI10.1080/14681811.2013.778823, p.2)
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
Holistic, democratic model of
coeducational SRE

Constructivist and gender approach to promote social change towards ‘real’
equality

Pedagogic spirit and integral vision of the person

Self-knowledge of our body and our sexuality as a empowerment strategy

Sexuality as key dimension of human being: reproduction, communication,
relationships, affection and pleasure

Person: subject agent of his/her body and his/her sexual-affective life

Sexual-affective citizenship

Epistemological turn

From education  to politics

From Methodological individualism  to a relational and socio-structural approach
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
This paper
 Thesis:
 Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) as a strategy to intervene gender
violence from a global approach in the field of Education
 2009

Parker, R., K. Wellings, and J.V. Lazarus. 2009. “Sexuality education in Europe: an
overview of current policies.” Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning 9(3):
227-242
 2010
 Spanish context, a decade after the approval of the ‘Organic Law on
Integral Protection Measures against Gender Violence on December 29,
2004’
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
My research (Granada, 2014-15)
EDUCATING ADOLESCENT LOVE AND SEXUALITY,
EDUCATING FOR EQUALITY AND NON-VIOLENCE
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 the paper analyses data coming from an educational action research
in the city of Granada
 The research aims three main objectives:
 1. a research objective: to investigate the politics of young people’s
sexuality and relationships
 2. an intervention objective: to apply the results of research to the design of
a SRE course with secondary students
 3. a training objective: to apply the results of research to university training
of professionals of educational and social intervention, encouraging
‘prácticien(e)s reflexives’
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
Three theoretical axes:
 Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights
(UE/EU)
 Sex and Relationships Education in the frame of Coeducation
 The recognition of Diversity
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 Charter Educational and Residential Centre dependent on a religious foundation
 Providing care and support to children, youth and their families, paying special
attention to social and family problems
 It aims to be a small autonomous city, where children can live the experience of
being members of a community and actively participate in its management
 Residential program since 1975 - Andalusia Ministry of Education
 Children from Granada whose social and family circumstances (temporary
workers, immigrants, families with low income, families with difficulties users of
Social Services) do not allow them to develop an ordinary school activity
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 All students (1º - 4º CSE), a total of 63, aged 12-18 years old, belonging to 8
different nationalities.
 The research involves several phases and techniques:
1.
The project begins with a questionnaire of initial diagnosis
2.
Based on its results, it follows the design and implementation of a foursession course on SRE with all levels (1º - 4º CSE) and students (all sessions
recorded and analysed)
3.
After that, a questionnaire of final diagnosis is passed among the students
to evaluate the results of the course
4.
Finally, 18 personal in-depth interviews have been carried out to study
personal experiences related to the politics of sexuality and relationships
 Drawing on this massive production of data, this paper will reflect on
violence and young people from the angle of SRE to offer some insight
on the problem and to discuss possible strategies of intervention about the
phenomenon
 Linking Study/Research and Intervention occupies a central space in this work
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
I. Initial diagnosis:
Open Questionnaire
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
1st Conclusions: their collective
imaginary about Gender Violence
 Gender: similar to Biology
 Gender Equality: identified with equal rights
 Gender Violence = men’s violence against women / women’s violence
against men
 GV in their everyday life
 32%
 Age: 13-53
 Nationality: Spanish, Moroccan, Romanian, Russian
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
II. Workshop on Gender
Violence
The course on SRE
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 Starting point: data coming from the initial diagnosis
 1st Thesis (conclusion): Normalisation of Gender Violence
 Aim of the workshop:
 to put stereotypes, myths and false beliefs about gender violence into
question
 in order to promote gender-related equality
 and combat gender-related violence
 2nd Thesis: SRE is the ‘tool’ to intervene on it
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
III. Final evaluation:
Open Questionnaire
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 General perception of gender violence indicators were
well identified by these adolescents
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
IV. Personal interviews
Individual experiences in detail
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 43% of girls and 64% of boys recognise to have some
case of gender violence near
 At least one-third of these adolescents get along with
gender violence
 Quantitative and qualitative data show they are not always
sure about what GV is or how to deal with it
 GV is normalised in this context
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
Can SRE combat gender-related
violence?
Conclusions
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender
violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015
 Sex and relationships education appears to be a useful
tool to make adolescents conscious about their everyday
dynamics related to gender, sexuality, love and bodily
practices
 It lets both students and practicioners open reflection
spaces to approach inequality and sex and love relations in
order to prevent violence and develop more egalitarian
relationships
 The Spanish educational system still misses the inclusion
of the topic in the curriculum
Mar Venegas, SRE combats gender violence? CYWS, Brunel, 2015