Controlling who he talks to, where he is, what he posts on social networks... These are common attitudes among young couples and Spanish adolescents. "According to various programs of study carried out in Spain, 9 out of 10 adolescents have exercised some subject of psychological violence on their partner". This is what Cristina López del Burgo, researcher at the project 'Education of affectivity and human sexuality' of the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra.

The expert warns that status is especially worrying: According to data of the 2017 Barometer of project Scopio - conducted by the Queen Sofia Center on Adolescence and Youth - one in four young people between 15 and 29 years old believes that gender violence is "normal behavior within a couple". In this same report it is pointed out that more than 20% of young people consider that the vision of gender violence is "exaggerated".

For its part, the Observatory against Domestic and Gender Violence published that prosecutions for abuse between minors increased by 48% from 2016 to 2017. In the last 15 years, this agency has counted five fatal victims of gender violence minors.

It goes on and on.

Is it possible to stop this trend? With their research, López del Burgo's team seeks to know the profile of adolescents who exercise or suffer intimate partner violence. To do so, they will select a representative sample of adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age attending school in Spain. Through the schools, they will answer an anonymous online questionnaire about intimate partner violence, lifestyles, opinions and attitudes related to affectivity and sexuality, as well as the messages they receive in their environment.

Detection and prevention

The questionnaire not only evaluates intimate partner violence, but also other attitudes and lifestyles of adolescents, so that the results can be used in schools to develop programs for Education and health promotion adapted to the needs of their students. For example," explains the expert, " if a association between having a very dependent relationship and intimate partner violence is detected, skills that promote autonomy and personal decision making could be worked on".

Ultimately written request, for López del Burgo, detecting and informing students about situations of intimate partner violence "will help to raise awareness of the problem and may even help those involved in violence subject to seek financial aid".

According to the expert, cases of violence may be more common in adolescence because "at this stage feelings are more intense, the partner and love are idealized, there is a lack of experience and peer pressure to have a partner". Although violent behaviors may disappear with maturity, "they do represent a risk factor for violence during adulthood," he adds. Therefore, she considers it vital to have a prevention website work during adolescence.

This research is carried out thanks to a scholarship of the high school of Health Carlos III -dependent of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities- and is framed within the subproject YourLife of 'Education of the affectivity and human sexuality'. This subproject, directed by researcher Jokin de Irala, aims to improve the Education of adolescents in lifestyles, leisure, affectivity and sexuality. Young people from the Philippines, El Salvador, Peru, Chile, Poland and Spain have already participated in project YourLife.