More than a third of young people between 16 and 20 say they have already suffered at least one sexual or gender-based violence from other young people according to a study conducted by the Apprentis d’Auteuil foundation, with OpinionWay.
The sex education workshop, which takes place in a small college in Rennes with 4th and 3rd grade students, begins with a game on the representations that the students have of women and men.
>> Access of minors to pornography: “This is a real public health issue, because it becomes their sexual education,” warns a specialist
“Is this a man or woman who can be delicate or delicate? Or both?”, asks the trainer. The aim is to show that characteristics do not depend on gender, but on the temperament of the person.
The central question of consent
The educator then brings up the central topic of consent. To do this, he uses credible sketches: here, it is about a young woman, clearly drunk at a party, who is brought to the big brother’s room. “My brother looks at me, winks, takes Isabelle by the arm and closes the door. Consent or not consent? Am I sure that the person has the full capacity to understand their choice?”. The professional explains the principle of “yes”, to a sexual relationship, which must be authentic, informed and free.
In the speech, young people seem well aware of these notions. “I pay attention, I know when there is consent or not. When I kiss my girlfriend for example, I know it’s yes!” But for other comrades, especially girls, the practice is completely different. Alex remembers a traumatic scene, an attempted rape, 2 years ago:
“I was sleeping and he barely touched me when I suddenly woke up. I hit him because I understood what he wanted to do and suddenly it’s serious. You don’t not that at fifteen! You don’t do that at all.”
Alex, a schoolgirlat franceinfo
Pornographic sites too accessible
Crimes which show the need to increase the number of these education and prevention workshops. Adolescents have a lot of representations, but little real information, notes Maël Le Galloudec, the educator: “Yes, indeed, there are still a lot of sexist prejudices, especially about girls, such as ‘They like to be dominated’, ‘When a girl says no, it’s not necessarily no, it could be yes’. .. So here we are, we are also obliged to deconstruct this kind of thing”. He adds : “It’s also the whole problem with pornographic sites which are supposed to be prohibited for those under 18. They are very easy to access. And so there, we have a representation of women and sexuality which is problematic.”
At the end of the lesson, the students write questions on small pieces of paper that they would like to address next time. They are in great demand for practical advice on the progress of relationships, heterosexual and homosexual.
55% of young girls have already suffered sexual violence
Sexuality education is supposed to be organized, during a minimum of three sequences, each year in middle and high school. In reality, often due to lack of time, these workshops fall by the wayside.
More than a third of young people between 16 and 20 say they have already suffered at least one sexual or gender-based violence from other young people, this is one of the conclusions of the survey carried out by the Apprentis foundation. d’Auteuil, with OpinionWay. This proportion rises to 55% for young women. 65% among young homosexuals.
Noémie Bonnin’s report during a sex education class