Shock situation: 58% of young people face violence at school and at home
More than half of young Russians have experienced at least one type of violence (physical, psychological, sexualized, bullying), according to an analytical study in which almost 3.5 thousand people participated. At the same time, the vast majority of cases occur in educational institutions. About why young people have become more likely to talk about their traumatic experiences to their loved ones, but still do not seek enough psychological and legal help — in the material of Izvestia.
How many young Russians have experienced violence
58% of young people in Russia have experienced one type of violence — physical, psychological, sexualized, or bullying. These conclusions were reached by analysts from a consortium of women's non-governmental organizations in partnership with the Olga Bochkova Academy of Security and with the support of the Absolut-Help Charitable foundation.
They conducted a study among young people aged 18-24, its participants answered questions about the experience of violence in childhood, adolescence and adolescence.
Girls were more likely to report cases of violence — more than 71%. More than 45% of young men have had such an experience. At the same time, the key risk areas for girls are psychological violence (54%), bullying (43%) and sexualized violence (38%), while boys have psychological violence (31%), bullying (26%) and physical violence (24%).
The peak occurs at the age of 12-17 years — for both girls and boys.
"If a teenager reports at least one type of violence, it is often a signal of increased risk for other types," the authors warn.
Co-author of the study, associate professor Veronika Odinokova, a social psychologist, noted that the results showed that violence in the lives of children and adolescents is much more widespread than is commonly thought.
"A significant part of the cases reported by young people are related to long—term experience and a combination of different types of violence," she said. — The same person may encounter several forms of it at different age periods. Such accumulated experience is usually associated with more severe consequences for mental health and well-being. At the same time, we still do not know enough about this problem, we notice it late and do not build an accessible assistance system.
Kristina Ivanenko, associate Professor at the Presidential Academy, noted that the figure of 58% "looks high," but is generally comparable with international data for this age group.
And Maria Todorova, a child and family psychologist, believes that such a figure does not necessarily mean an increase in violence itself.
— It is rather an increase in willingness to talk about it. Even 10 or 20 years ago, with a similar survey, the indicators could have been close to the maximum, but a significant part of the respondents simply would not have identified the experience as violence," she told Izvestia. — Against the background of the general global instability in recent years, the level of sensitivity among young people has been increasing, which increases the subjective experience of trauma.
Where violence occurs
Psychological violence and bullying were indeed described by many study participants, especially girls, as repetitive.
"This is consistent with the nature of the phenomena: psychological violence and bullying usually unfold as a process, rather than as an isolated incident," the authors of the study note.
The majority of respondents had multiple bullying experiences (more than 10 times in 48% of cases).
Up to the age of 18, bullying is often associated with a stable group (class, study group), where victims have fewer opportunities to break off contact, change their environment, or break out of relationships with aggressors, so bullying becomes easier to endure, the authors of the study note. At an older age, some of the situations that respondents attribute to bullying occur on the street or in public transport, where contact can be brief and there are more opportunities to protect themselves.
Bullying is maximally tied to the learning environment, the authors of the study stated. 86.3% of male participants and 92% of female participants reported that bullying took place in an educational institution.
Educational institutions turned out to be the leading place for physical and psychological violence among young men — 56.1% and 63.2% indicated this, respectively.
75.1% of the survey participants reported physical violence at home, and 65.4% reported psychological violence.
For sexualized violence in both sexes, the key contexts of violence are the Internet and social media, as well as the home. And public spaces (street–park–transport) are more often included in the most frequently mentioned places of violence among girls.
"This is consistent with the higher level of subjective insecurity of girls in a public environment and underscores the importance of measures that increase the safety of the urban environment and transport," the authors believe.
Do young people complain about violence
The most latent types of violence, that is, when the victim does not talk about his experiences, are cyberbullying and sexualized violence, the document says.
Among girls, the highest proportion of those who did not tell anyone about cases of cyberbullying (27%) and sexualized violence (20.5%). In boys, these figures are 28.3% and 37%, respectively.
"This is consistent with the hypothesis of a stronger stigma and barriers to recognizing sexualized violence in men, as well as a lower willingness to share with their immediate environment," the study notes.
Olga Bochkova, a co-author of the study and a child and adolescent psychotherapist, noted that people remain silent about traumatic experiences because they are afraid of not being understood, facing accusations or indifference.
"To overcome these barriers, we lack a culture of trust in which requesting help and support is perceived as a natural way to deal with a problem, rather than an act of weakness or even an act of courage," she told Izvestia. — Society still tends to look for blame in the victim, especially when it comes to cyberbullying or sexualized violence.
According to her, it is important to train parents, friends, and teachers to respond correctly to the disclosure of violence: to listen, not to devalue, and to help find a specialist. Education and health system staff need training in early detection of signs of distress and safe response.
Tatiana Belova, co—author of the study, lawyer, president of the Consortium of Women's NGOs, noted that now the main form of combating the consequences of domestic and sexualized violence is criminal prosecution after serious harm has been caused.
"But a significant part of the victims, especially among young men, do not tell anyone about what happened, and the request for professional help remains extremely low," she believes. — The proportion of calls to the police is minimal.
According to her, for real protection, it is necessary to introduce mandatory training for specialists to recognize signs of violence, create safe communication channels, and risk assessment protocols.
Anastasia Tyunyaeva, a lawyer for the protection of women's and children's rights, confirmed to Izvestia that no more than 10-15% of victims seek legal assistance.
— Most often people come to me with physical violence — beatings, harm to health. At least there is something to work with here: medical certificates, visible traces, a clear evidence base," she noted. — Sexual violence is in second place, but the treatment threshold there is especially high because of the stigmatization and fear of not being heard. Psychological violence is rarely perceived by people as a reason to go to a lawyer, although Russian legislation provides for responsibility for this.
The most difficult thing, according to Anastasia Tyunyaeva, is to prove cyberbullying and online harassment: there are no bruises, there are no certificates. and at the same time, the court needs to show the systematicity, intent and real harm caused.
According to her, ordinary bullying is a little easier to prove if there are witnesses, but the courts are extremely careful to classify it as a criminal offense, more often limited to administrative responsibility.
Partner of the Pen Bar Association & Based on her experience, Ekaterina Tyagai confirmed to Paper that a significantly smaller proportion of victims apply for legal aid than actually face violence.
"In our practice, victims are usually women who are systematically subjected to both psychological and physical violence in relationships," she said. — At the same time, psychological violence often becomes the starting point when it comes to a systemic pattern of behavior. This behavior consists of emotional "swings", pressure, depreciation, isolation, and the formation of financial dependence.
The expert also recalled that in 2017, a partial decriminalization of beatings was carried out in Russia: for the first time, beatings that did not cause harm to health were reclassified from a criminal offense to an administrative offense, and criminal liability occurs only if repeated.
— In practice, this reduces the willingness of victims to seek protection, as they do not feel sufficient legal protection and fear that such treatment will only worsen relations with the aggressor, — said Ekaterina Tyagai.
According to her, the situation with classical bullying is also difficult: the legislation does not contain such a concept, so such cases fall into separate legal constructions — insults, threats, harm to health. As a result, it is the systemic nature of bullying, which is a key problem, that remains beyond legal assessment.
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