These figures are based on data collected in a survey on school climate and victimization conducted by the Ministry of National Education in the spring of 2022. Specifically, this survey asks students about incidents that have occurred since the start of the school year: property damage, as well as physical, psychological, and sexual assaults. These include voyeurism in restrooms or locker rooms, groping, touching on or near school grounds, and forced kissing. Sexual violence is thus primarily addressed in the context of in-person interactions. Cyberviolence is covered in a separate category, notably including the non-consensual viewing of sexually explicit images, which affects 4.4% of middle school students.
Despite the lack of data on the impact of digital technology on sexual violence, the press release identifies social media as “a powerful factor in amplifying such violence” and calls for a ban on digital platforms for children under 15. This interpretation warrants further discussion.
Sexual Violence Is More Prevalent Than Previously Reported
In the spring of 2023, we conducted a study for the Hubertine-Auclert Center on gender-based (cyber)violence among adolescents. This violence is defined as any harmful act committed against a person because of their gender or non-conformity with gender roles, whether in person or online. One of the main objectives was to document in detail instances of sexual violence and how they occur across school, extracurricular, and digital spaces.
The survey was conducted in 14 schools in the Île-de-France region—schools representative of the region—among students in grades 6 through 12. Of the 1,669 responses collected from middle school students, 847 were from girls, 801 from boys, and 21 from non-binary students.
First finding: 43% of middle school students report having experienced at least one form of sexual violence in the past year. Girls and non-binary students are more likely to report at least one form of sexual violence (44% compared to 41% of boys).
These figures are vastly different from those in the institutional survey. Why such a discrepancy? Essentially because the scope of the data analyzed differs.
Our survey covers not only assaults and sexual touching but also forms of violence that are often downplayed or overlooked: sexual insults (36%), such as sexual gestures (22%), unwanted sexual comments (20%), persistent sexual advances (9%), and being forced to view sexual images (12%); sexual assaults (14%), such as groping (11%) and forced kissing (7%); as well as violations of privacy regarding intimate images (7%), such as being forced to take intimate images (3%), sextortion (4%), disclosure (3%), theft (2%), or the manipulation of intimate images (1%). In addition, 2% of middle school students reported having experienced other forms of sexual violence, a figure that potentially includes rape.
In 71% of cases, the perpetrators are juvenile boys acting alone (47%) or in groups (24%).
In other words, when we consider the entire spectrum of sexual violence, its scale appears to be much greater.
Where does this violence take place?
Second finding: Sexual violence occurs more frequently in schools than elsewhere.
Of all the incidents reported, 43% occurred on school grounds, 24% in the digital space, and 5% both online and at school. The remaining 29% took place off-campus (in private or public spaces in person).
The vast majority of sexual violence occurs in a school setting, such as assaults (53% compared to 3% online and 1% in hybrid settings) or sexual harassment (46% compared to 24% online and 6% in hybrid settings).
Violations involving intimate images are the most common form of online abuse (63% compared to 8% in middle school and 5% in hybrid settings). Such abuse is facilitated by digital tools that allow users to capture, save, edit, and distribute images. Nevertheless, 15% of sextortion incidents (and 4% in hybrid settings) and 9% of instances of intimate image disclosure (and 11% in hybrid settings) occurred on school grounds, suggesting the persistence of forms of image capture and distribution that are unrelated to social media.
These findings prompt us to consider the permeability and intertwining of forms of violence between digital and school environments. An image taken under duress in a bedroom can be printed and circulated at school; a sexual act mimed in class can be filmed and shared via a messaging app, and so on.
Digital Technology: A Catalyst or a Revealer?
Placing the blame for sexual violence solely on social media raises several issues.
On the one hand, the majority of reported incidents of violence occur primarily within the school setting. In other words, sexual violence does not require digital platforms to exist, and action must first be taken in middle school. Rather, these platforms serve to bring violence to light, amplifying certain aspectsof it: the expansion of the audience, the sharing of personal information and images, the permanence of content, the credibility of rumors, the spread of toxic speech, and the sense of impunity.
Sexual (cyber)violence is tied to reputation issues specific to adolescent social interactions. Digital platforms do not create gender norms out of thin air, but they accelerate their spread and increase their visibility. An intimate image shared without consent can thus lead to lasting stigmatization, particularly for girls.
Prohibiting access to these platforms for children under 15 would therefore not be a sufficient solution. Such a measure leaves intact the gender dynamics and power relations that shape adolescent interactions, both online and at school.
Breaking Down Barriers in Prevention Policies
To bring about change, we must first recognize the true extent of sexual violence among adolescents, which requires broadening the definition of such violence. It is also necessary to break down the silos between existing programs. Programs to combat harassment (such as the Phare program), media and information literacy (EMI), and education on emotional, relational, and sexual well-being (Evars) still operate in silos. Yet our data show that sexual violence lies precisely at the intersection of these areas: gender relations, digital practices, and group dynamics.
Effective prevention requires addressing these various aspects: working on gender norms, consent, and the management of images and personal data, as well as the issues of reputation, privacy, and moderation specific to social media.
Finally, these initiatives must involve the students themselves so that they can learn to recognize sexual violence and feel empowered to speak out against it. The awareness-raising platform “Gênant, surtout violent” offers educational resources to help students view situations that are often trivialized in a more objective light.
Ultimately, the issue is not a choice between digital regulation and educational intervention. It is about understanding that sexual violence among adolescents forms a relational system that transcends physical spaces. For while digital technology is transforming the ways in which violence manifests, the primary problem lies in the persistence of unequal gender relations—which schools are specifically tasked with dismantling.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Readthe original article.
