In Spain, the recent increase in sexual violence perpetrated by minors is of concern to the authorities and associations, which denounce the impact of young people’s increasing access to pornography.
“a few years ago”we “Gradual increase”if not ” amazing “the The number of sexual offenses committed by minors.confirms, in an interview with Agence France-Presse, Eduardo Esteban, the public prosecutor responsible for coordinating criminal policy towards minors in the country.
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In Spain, “being a democrat means promoting women’s rights”
this increase, ‘More visible in the past year’ Than it was the case in previous years, according to the judge, this issue has ended up being brought into the spotlight due to several cases that have been carried over in recent months.
Girls between the ages of 11 and 13 who were raped by other minors
Among them, the alleged rape at the end of 2022 by a group of minors of an 11-year-old girl in the toilets of a shopping center in the Barcelona area. Of the accused, only two were over 14, the minimum age for an accusation in Spain, and only one was provisionally admitted to a center for minors.
In June, a similar case was reported in the same region, Catalonia, where between 2015 and 2022 the number of minors under 14 involved in crimes or sexual offenses doubled, from 53 to 103, and where 12.3% of those were arrested between January and April. 2023 in such cases, according to the regional executive and the police.
In Spain, “social networks continue to broadcast messages of denial of violence against women”
Another sign of the authorities’ concern, Defender of the People, the Spanish equivalent of Defender of Rights in France, opened an investigation in early June into the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl by the Taliban from Madrid. college.
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Send everyone to jail
These cases sparked outrage in the country, where the fight against sexual violence is a national issue. In the middle of campaigning for the July 23 legislative elections, the far right was quick to call for a lowering of the age of criminal responsibility.
But according to experts such as Carmela del Moral, of the NGO Save the Children, “There is no quick fix, like lowering the age of criminal responsibility and sending everyone to jail.”to stop this increase.
Local elections in Spain: “The right has expressed a very strong wave of nationalism among the youth”
The uncontrolled access of an increasing number of children to pornography is, according to experts, one of the main factors in the transition to the act. “Young people, children, turn to this content earlier and earlier.”which they use as “Tutorials”And Like when you go on YouTube to learn how to fix a flat bike tire.explains Prosecutor Esteban.
Almost 20% of 9-year-olds have watched pornography
According to Lluís Ballester, professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, the age of first contact with this content is gradually decreasing: currently, 15 to 20% of Spanish children between the ages of 8 and 9 claim to have already encountered pornography on the Internet.
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A 2020 study by Save The Children showed that nearly seven out of ten teens frequently consume pornography and more than half were inspired by it in their sexual experiences.
However, this pornography often “Violence, with submissive women, who never contradict or oppose male desire, and who accept any practice, even if it is insane.”Lluís Ballester insists.
And Carmela del Moral warns that they are normalizing mass attacks, which are often depicted.
Young “Learning about sexuality through pornography is like learning to drive by watching Fast and Furious.” »
Ineffective control
If access to pornographic content is theoretically prohibited to those under the age of 18, censorship is generally non-existent, prompting Attorney General Esteban to call for ” Parental control […] In collaboration with social networks » and pallets.
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Such access without real censorship is a concern in many countries, such as France, where the government announced in May that it wanted to achieve effective age verification on porn sites before the end of the year.
In the face of porn’s influence, experts also agree on the need to promote teen sex education. “Actions taken with minors have very little effect and frequency.”Attorney General Esteban insists. but “With more adequate sex education, there would be far fewer crimes.”.
