Zürcher Nachrichten - Interactive play gives Spain teens insight into gender violence

EUR -
AED 3.832684
AFN 72.959602
ALL 98.462959
AMD 410.45402
ANG 1.873047
AOA 957.921829
ARS 1062.031565
AUD 1.668562
AWG 1.878277
AZN 1.784801
BAM 1.956057
BBD 2.098476
BDT 124.196346
BGN 1.95543
BHD 0.392152
BIF 3072.704402
BMD 1.043487
BND 1.411486
BOB 7.181945
BRL 6.350643
BSD 1.039337
BTN 88.357629
BWP 14.364891
BYN 3.401248
BYR 20452.35176
BZD 2.089175
CAD 1.498735
CDF 2994.808319
CHF 0.931781
CLF 0.03736
CLP 1030.865674
CNY 7.613704
CNH 7.60587
COP 4549.298739
CRC 524.369013
CUC 1.043487
CUP 27.652414
CVE 110.279514
CZK 25.108428
DJF 185.074358
DKK 7.458116
DOP 63.288329
DZD 140.667513
EGP 53.089373
ERN 15.65231
ETB 129.556951
FJD 2.417812
FKP 0.826423
GBP 0.829839
GEL 2.932642
GGP 0.826423
GHS 15.278011
GIP 0.826423
GMD 75.13081
GNF 8979.181761
GTQ 8.008054
GYD 217.438617
HKD 8.11073
HNL 26.382472
HRK 7.484837
HTG 135.967895
HUF 414.03543
IDR 16874.546735
ILS 3.801242
IMP 0.826423
INR 88.646863
IQD 1361.479186
IRR 43917.772492
ISK 145.170484
JEP 0.826423
JMD 162.611401
JOD 0.739936
JPY 163.242118
KES 134.177659
KGS 90.783029
KHR 4176.549681
KMF 486.395546
KPW 939.138018
KRW 1509.320727
KWD 0.321342
KYD 0.866114
KZT 545.821836
LAK 22747.993892
LBP 93069.24896
LKR 305.14016
LRD 188.634826
LSL 19.134218
LTL 3.081147
LVL 0.631195
LYD 5.106672
MAD 10.460077
MDL 19.14352
MGA 4903.645375
MKD 61.5431
MMK 3389.206159
MNT 3545.769827
MOP 8.320295
MRU 41.33344
MUR 49.25222
MVR 16.052761
MWK 1802.137182
MXN 20.931771
MYR 4.704048
MZN 66.682732
NAD 19.134218
NGN 1616.92545
NIO 38.245033
NOK 11.810924
NPR 141.372606
NZD 1.846749
OMR 0.401533
PAB 1.039337
PEN 3.870109
PGK 4.214555
PHP 61.430102
PKR 289.288974
PLN 4.258903
PYG 8104.066586
QAR 3.788799
RON 4.979106
RSD 117.045935
RUB 107.244587
RWF 1448.790677
SAR 3.91966
SBD 8.748133
SCR 14.551486
SDG 627.662417
SEK 11.505215
SGD 1.414024
SHP 0.826423
SLE 23.787187
SLL 21881.410825
SOS 593.978174
SRD 36.65877
STD 21598.081035
SVC 9.094197
SYP 2621.793487
SZL 19.129518
THB 35.780887
TJS 11.369896
TMT 3.662641
TND 3.311736
TOP 2.44395
TRY 36.710281
TTD 7.053928
TWD 34.050018
TZS 2468.324859
UAH 43.588037
UGX 3812.501768
USD 1.043487
UYU 46.356101
UZS 13399.76356
VES 53.713772
VND 26561.970104
VUV 123.884906
WST 2.882934
XAF 656.043343
XAG 0.035154
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.820076
XDR 0.792804
XOF 656.043343
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.263155
ZAR 19.096059
ZMK 9392.640903
ZMW 28.762786
ZWL 336.002496
  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

Interactive play gives Spain teens insight into gender violence
Interactive play gives Spain teens insight into gender violence / Photo: OSCAR DEL POZO - AFP

Interactive play gives Spain teens insight into gender violence

The row started with something minor: 'Edu' was laughing at something on his phone but refused to show it to his girlfriend 'Ali'. She got upset and they started arguing.

Text size:

Angry words turned into shouting and insults and suddenly a furious 'Edu' grabs her phone and hurls it to the classroom floor where it shatters, the violent gesture shocking the group of watching teenagers.

The confrontation between the two characters, played by actors, is part of a play by Teatro Que Cura (The Healing Theatre) visiting a high school in the town of Parla near Madrid to raise awareness about domestic violence.

November 25 is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and in Spain, which passed Europe's first law against it in 2004, experts agree education is key to reducing the problem.

In May, official figures showed gender violence was growing fastest among the under-18s, with the number of female victims up nearly 30 percent from 514 in 2020 to 661 in 2021.

It was unclear if this was due to an increase in violence or a rise in the number of incidents reported.

The play at El Olivo high school starts with the couple getting ready for their first date, Edu wining over the 15- and 16-year-olds with a humorous monologue worrying over his looks, what to wear and his chances of getting laid.

But the laughter dies as their relationship develops -- and the teenagers are encouraged to reflect on their arguments and what they would do differently.

"The aim is to help adolescents build relationships based on equality and prevent domestic violence," says Susana Martin Cuezva, a therapist who directs Teatro que Cura and moderates the discussions.

"The idea is that the students experience a situation of tension or conflict in the here and now and that they resolve it in a different way to how the actors are approaching it, which is always through violence."

- 'Pretty realistic' -

"It's good to show it like this. If you see it in the street, it's just a couple fighting. But seeing it in this context you realise it is actually violence and that you can do something about it," says 15-year-old Patricia Garcia.

As the plot develops, the audience is invited to voice their thoughts directly to Edu or Ali, with each actor improvising a response.

"I lost my head, I'm not really like that," Edu explains to a student after the phone-smashing incident.

"Yeah right. First, give me some space and don't try to intimidate me," she says calmly. As he starts arguing, she walks off -- to cheers and applause from the students.

What affected Mario Carmona, 16, most was the insults and the pushing and shoving.

"Unfortunately, it was pretty realistic, and it happens more often than you'd expect," he told AFP.

"It's not easy to understand what's happening even though these arguments are pretty normal. But it's good to have someone to support you, who can give you a wake-up call if things get a bit out of hand."

Set up in 2017, Teatro que Cura uses interactive theatre to immerse teens in dramatised scenarios of inequality and violence to raise awareness about conflict and gender-based violence.

Over the past five years, they have worked with some 9,000 teenagers aged 14-19, mostly in the Madrid region.

Studies show education is crucial, with a 2021 Spanish government report finding sex education classes focused on equality and violence "reduce the risk of resorting to gender-based violence in boys, and of suffering it in girls".

- 'Detecting cases of risk' -

"Adolescents who are taught about gender-based violence are at less risk," educational psychologist Maria Jose Diaz-Aguado told El Pais newspaper.

"If you get this sort of education at school, you can become aware of such things much earlier," agreed 16-year-old Maryam Calderon.

Silvia Serrano Martin, El Olivo's school psychologist, said the sessions were very effective.

"It's really helped raise awareness about domestic violence because seeing it in such an experiential way reaches them more directly," she told AFP.

"This is a useful prevention tool but it's also good for detecting cases of risk."

Sometimes students come forward to privately share their experiences, which in some cases has involved situations of "real urgency," Susana Martin Cuezva says.

"Once a boy came to talk to the actor and said he identified with Edu, that he was starting to be violent with his partner. He was in tears and told us he needed help and didn't want to repeat what was happening at home," she said.

The case was immediately referred to a regional gender violence unit.

"I've learned I need to put myself first," 15-year-old Garcia told AFP when asked what she had taken from the session.

"If a relationship is starting to become aggressive, you have to walk away for your own good."

M.J.Baumann--NZN