The results are shown below, structured by the main themes of analysis. The first theme of analysis, titled “Comparison of the identified assets and the functions assigned to them by young men and women”, is presented in several subsections. The results of the second theme of analysis, titled “Comparison of young people’s and professionals’ perceptions of the support responses to SV” describe differences between the two groups in their identification of assets.

Comparison of identified assets and the functions assigned to them by young men and womenAssets identified by the young interviewees

The assets identified by young women and men were similar (See Table 3). They both indicated informal assets, such as groups of friends, family and couples, to which they related functions typical of an initial response to SV (See Table 4). They assigned each asset actions, such as raising awareness, for which the next M_05 quote serves as an illustrative example, or not leaving a potential victim alone, accompanying them home or calling them during their journey. They are also recognized as assets with an auxiliary role in the initial phases of victimization, such as providing the necessary emotional support to continue seeking professional help, as can be seen from the following W_06 quote.

M_05: “Thanks to many friends of mine, who are activists, I’ve been informed a lot about sexual violence, gender violence […] now I believe I have enough information to know how to deal with each situation, and correct people if they say inappropriate things”

W_06: “I’ve spoken to the girl and I’ve encouraged her to report it and my friends told her they can be witnesses, they were there and know what happened”

Table 3 Assets Identified by Young People and ProfessionalsTable 4 Functions that young people attributed to assets for SV response

At an intermediate level of formality, the interviewees refer to a type of asset that analysts have called social communication spaces, as they determine public opinion and socially shared conceptions of SV. This includes the traditional media (TV, press), as well as the internet and social networks, and cultural, artistic and advertising products. The young people assigned the function of offering examples for healthy sex-affective dynamics to these assets, as well as acting as a channel for information and to disseminate support resources. However, they perceive that the internet and social networks transcend these functions. In this regard, young people are not passive subjects, as they can interact, share their personal SV experiences, as the next W_10 quote mentions, and even publicly highlight cases of SV, by seeking to hold the perpetrator accountable.

W_10: “Well mainly from the television, all media, quite a lot as well on social media. I do read a lot of news on social networks, even testimonies from girls […]. On social networks, I do think it’s broader and there are testimonies from different girls and different news that people upload that aren’t on the television. I do think maybe a bit more visibility is given to sexual violence, than television as such. I still think it’s a bit taboo, in my opinion”

Both the young men and young women interviewees recognize formal assets, such as the health system and psychological services. The fact that they almost exclusively attribute to the latter the function of re-educating the attacker stands out. Furthermore, they identified specialized resources for addressing GBV, whose main action is to provide professional support for victims of SV, including their material or financial support, as it is transcended from the following W_17 quote. Meanwhile, GBV and SV helplines were designated as a specific asset, justified by their key function of referring victims to specific SV and GBV support resources. Another asset identified was the education system, as a healthy space for socialization, awareness (as the next W_01 quote shows) and specific training on gender-related violence, as well as a space to learn about other assets, such as feminist associations, GBV-specialized resources, helplines, police, etc.

W_01: “When I took a course on equality at university […] when I broke up with him […] in class they explained gender violence to me […]. I started to realize and I was like, oh wow, this isn’t right! And so, I told my friends more”

W_17: “There’s a center…for women where if you’ve suffered any kind of sexual violence or male violence, you can go and there are two psychologists, I think, I think they have two […]. They also refer you to an assistant who helps you with things. I don’t know the procedure well to be honest, but anyway, something like that”

Ultimately, there are two factors that are perceived by both sexes as catalysts for the proper functioning of the assets. On the one hand, the participants value that in contexts where there is a high degree of associationism, the presence and familiarity of these entities among young people increases, therefore improving their capacity for community impact. The next W_19 quote illustrates this perception.

W_19: “My town is well organized, so I also understand that if I go to other towns the same doesn’t happen, right? But I do think there’s starting to be more things, more awareness […] Now I see loads of guys who are undoing things […] trying to change or at least listen”

On the other hand, some young people believe that asset effectiveness is mediated by individual willingness. This is expressed in attitudes such as becoming educated on the issue out of one’s own interest, as the W_06 quote illustrates, or by directly responding to a SV situation experienced by oneself with a positive and critical coping attitude, as the next W_01 quote shows.

W_01: “I have a lot of feminist self-defence…that’s what the workshop is called. It doesn’t mean standing up to a guy but getting out of there and running. I think we now have a lot of tools […] Saying: “Look, bro, if you continue to send me these photos, one, I’ll publish them on Instagram”. […] “I haven’t asked you for anything”. […] I’ve seen a bit of this direct action by girls”

W_06: “Because I’m really interested in the topic, well I’ve spoken to different people about it and…I’ve come up in my mind what I think, what’s right, after speaking to a lot of people and debating, finding information. […] I’ve done it out of interest, just like maybe I ask my sister, or you ask her the same and she doesn’t know how to answer because she has no idea on the topic. And we’ve been to the same place and been with the same teachers”

Differences among young women and men in identifying assets

The most notable difference between young men and women in this study is related to the lack of identification, by men, of so-called “feminist” assets: women key informants and feminist groups and initiatives. Key informant women are personal contacts that are not part of the immediate surroundings yet are perceived as a useful and reliable resource if someone experiences SV, either because of their knowledge on gender and support resources or because of the assurance or empowerment they project. They are assigned functions of detection and immediate action to respond to violence when it is taking place, whether that may come in the form of helping the victim, or confronting the attacker, as the following W_17 quote implies, or disseminating resources to respond to SV and facilitate referral to other assets, as it is illustrated by W_19 quote.

W_17: “One night I was out having some beers, […] the girl comes up to me…and says to me: “Hey, could you take me home? I don’t want him to go with me” […] And she explained to me what had happened in the club. And I said […] Let’s go, ok? […] I’ll walk you home and then I’ll come back […]”

W_19: “Well, I, because personally, I know people who are more involved, so I’d go directly to them, right? […] I personally would call them, say hey, I want information on this, I want to be informed on this”

The interviewed young women reported having found a safe space in feminist associations (self-organized groups, meetings…), and in cultural or artistic feminist initiatives, whether of an individual or group nature. In addition to raising awareness and dissemination, the interviewees assigned the function of carrying out more specific gender equality training to these associations, as it is transcended from W_06 quote. They also relate them to functions focused on more advanced support responses to SV, including carrying out direct prevention, detecting violence as it occurs and immediately addressing it to stop or minimize it.

W_06: “I’m in a feminist group […] we send each other news […] We’re informed, we find articles, we look for books about the topic, we might look for a video that a girl has uploaded to social networks […] each person shares their opinion or tells us if something similar has happened to them and how it could be avoided”

In terms of the male interviewees, some identified other kinds of social and neighborhood associations and support resources as an asset, as well as those dedicated to youth and integration, which were not identified by the young women. These resources can range from more formal institutions, dependent on social services, to leisure associations for young people, although the type of function attributed to them are similar. This is why they were included as a single asset. Similarly, to what feminist associations represent for young women, they find a safe space to share their sex-affective experiences, obtain information, seek emotional support or request help and guidance if they experience SV themselves, as the following M_02 quote shows.

M_02: “Social educators, so, in the neighborhood there are lots of centers […]. If I have a problem like this, normally I send them a message and they say: “well go here...and ask”, normally or “Wait, I’ll look for the phone number and you can call”

In contrast to the young women, the young men identified the judicial and police system as an asset, regardless of whether the person who is sexually assaulted is a man or a woman. They believe it is urgent to report SV in order to hold the attacker accountable and to prevent violence towards other victims, as the M_20 quote illustrates. Some young men do experience SV, but they do not identify GBV resources as assets, as they believe such resources are not intended for them, thus they only support legal solutions, as M_03 quote seems to imply.

M_20: “The first measures are to report it, seek help and immediately report if sexual violence has occurred […] as soon as possible, so the girls can prove with evidence in the hospitals […] and, therefore, a legal process begins against the accused, the rapist”

M_03: “If I were someone who suffered sexual violence as a woman, I’d call 016 and they would know to put me in contact with an association or something. As I am a man, what would I do? Well, the police, that’s it, I don’t have anything else…that’s it.”

In contrast, despite considering the police and judicial system an institutional stakeholder that takes part in SV response, the young women did not see it an asset, source of help or facilitator, but rather as a barrier. They indicated that victims of SV suffer from revictimization and that the culture of masculinity within the police force generates distrust, as the next W_19 quote illustrates. In addition, they considered that not all types of SV could be addressed within the legal framework, such as digital SV mentioned in the following W_01 quote.

W_01: “You can go to the police station and say, “look what he’s sending me, what do I do?” I think that…well, they ignore you a bit and say something like “well, he’ll get over it”[...]”

W_19: “Go and report it and they ask you […] “And why did you go to his house or why did you leave the club with him…?” […] and question everything you do to challenge your testimony. […] “So, why am I going to report it if they aren’t going to go anything and they question me during…I don’t know how many hours, it’s worse”

The young men see themselves as an asset, as friends or family members that meet the function of preventing or addressing immediate violence, protecting the victim (as in the next M_21 quote) and reprimanding the attacker (as in the following M_02 quote).

M_21: “My mum, if she needs to go anywhere strange, I’m the first person to go with her. […] I’d be really hurt if something like that would happen to someone like that, someone close”.

M_02: “I don’t know, I don’t know what the reaction would be by those around me, but my reaction would be to say a few things. […] Like “Hey, stop, look what you’re doing”[...]”

However, young women were also perceived as assets in functions such as educating and raising awareness among their friends, partners and family, as both following quotes by W_17 and W_12 illustrate.

W_17: “In the beginning my partner wasn’t interested in any of this […] But after 2 or 3 months of talking to him and saying “darling, this is important”, he started to see it, and now […] he’s one of the few men able to listen and say wow, this is crazy”

W_12: “With my brother […] who is 16, as a man, I try to say things like “hey, that’s not right”. […] I try, as a woman, to give him a perspective, especially to the men in my family and surroundings, of what I wouldn’t like to be done to me, so they don’t do it […] to other women”

Perceptions of proximity to assets and their level of formality

In this study, the level of formality of the different assets had a negative relationship with the proximity as perceived by young people (See Fig. 1). Interviewees understood proximity in terms of accessibility and familiarity, in addition to physical and geographic proximity, as M_03 quote shows. Young people experience help provided by formal support resources as less close, less personal and less accessible in terms of geographic proximity than informal resources.

M_03: “I think that it’s proximity […] For any type of tool to work, whether it’s the police or an association […], for it to be really effective […] it needs to be at the level, well of town halls, so the minimum unit of the administration […] the results are better”

Fig. 1

Symbolic representation of assets on the axes of formality/proximity perceived by young people. Source: Own elaboration

Young people also discussed proximity in a symbolic sense, which is related to the adaptability of assets to youth: knowledge of their realities and experiences with SV, mechanisms of access to services (as in W_10 quote), their language and even their conceptualization of SV (as in M_04 quote).

W_10: “That first approach to that service […] for it to not be in person […] would make it easier, because the person, who has to go to that place, and is seen going in and so […] maybe by telephone or if information can be given on social networks, WhatsApp and so […] or videocall”

M_04: “[GBV resources] are much more focused on what’s within a sex-affective relationship itself, of people maybe a bit older, more mature […] Outside a sex-affective relationship and even the younger population, maybe there’s a little bit missing”

In general, informal assets that are part of one’s immediate and daily surroundings are considered to be more accessible and closer. Among these, they highlighted that when talking about SV they prefer to talk to friends or their partner rather than family, when the attack has occurred outside their relationship. In comparison with their partner and friends, they reported that family is more unapproachable and distant, because they are afraid of not being understood, as the next M_07 quote implies.

M_07: “I think young people usually speak to our closest environment […] or partner before talking to our family”

At an intermediate level of formality, young people reported that the traditional media also generate a certain distrust and a sense of distance. However, young men and women did perceive social networks and the internet as common and accessible spaces. They felt similarly in terms of more informal organizations, such as feminist groups and neighborhood and youth associations, that seem more connected to their experiences as young people, as it is transcended by the next W_11 quote. In fact, they suggested that this type of “grassroots” organization could act as a bridge between people who need SV support and the more formal institutions that are in charge of addressing SV.

W_11: “Groups that so to say are really out there, right? They’re not full of bureaucracy, in the end, or not influenced by an institution or interests. […] They can work on the problem […] from a place of trust […] I think that institutions have forgotten that these groups exist, that there’s an entire grassroots social movement”

The higher formality assets, especially the criminal police and judicial systems and the healthcare system, were perceived as distant and difficult to access when searching for SV. In addition, young people associated the high level of formality of care resources and specialized GBV helplines with failing to adapt to the realities of young people, as M_03 quote illustrates. The education system was an exception among formal SV resources. In general, they perceived it as closer in proximity.

M_03: “They’re too institutional. I see them as too archaic; they’re ultimately bureaucratic. In other words, I see them as very little human, very little connected to social reality. […] I don’t think it’s a question of there being no tools, but rather whether these tools are really capable of providing a solution for these young people”

Perceptions of SV support responses: a comparison of the perspectives of young people and professionals

The professionals interviewed did not mention any SV asset that was not also identified by the young men and women interviewed in this study (See Table 3 and Fig. 2). However, young people identified feminist assets, which was a resource not identified by the professionals. The young women indicated that feminist assets play a key role in their own responses to SV. The professionals also failed to identify partners or the traditional media as assets in SV support.

Fig. 2

Flow diagram of relationships between assets for SV response. Source: Own elaboration

In terms of the functions of each support resource or asset, professionals identified three types beyond the 14 functions identified by young people (See Table 4). They were assigned the titles: “research in SV and GBV”, “establishment of action protocols for SV and GBV”, as VVCS_38 quote suggests, and “network coordination with other entities”, as shown in SY_43 quote. The first two functions are carried out primarily by services specialized in GBV, while the third is carried out by both those addressing GBV and those that work with young people (education centers, associations, etc.)

VVCS_38: “We have drafted documents […] theoretical frameworks on violence, more in a general sense […] for the government […] and sexual violence and feminist protocols”

SY_43: “We’re going to do a joint consultancy with the Equality [council] […] we need to look for that support network with colleagues to work”

Regarding relationships between assets (See Fig. 2), both groups of study participants seemed to perceive a flow of information and specific cases from a low level of formality, in the initial phases of the response process, towards the specialized approach offered by institutionalized SV response assets. Feminist assets are perceived as of close proximity to the victims and to determinants of public opinion. These assets help by intervening in the detection of SV and supporting the victims’ search for support among specialized services, even those that involve a lack of trust due to their high level of formality. According to the perspectives of study participants, referral is made through SV and GBV helplines or by directly going to care resources or the health system.

The comparison of the perspectives of young people and professionals shows a referral channel that is a priority for young women but is not clearly recognized by professionals: referral through feminist assets. The professionals do not identify this option, which, according to the perceptions of the young women, involves friends and the education system. Information and referral flows go from friendships to feminist associations and initiatives (See Fig. 2). Furthermore, there is a bilateral flow between these associations and the education system. Many feminist associations emerge within this system (student associations), and they influence the system by bringing in new discourses and exerting pressure to modify practices. This process is illustrated by the following W_19 quote.

W_19: “For example, a student came to a feminist group at high school, to complain that a classmate had started touching her breasts and bottom in class […] and at least try to help and that’s it. […] so, they can get it off their chest […] we’ve tried to tell them, well, ask for help and so. Some have and others haven’t and so we’ve continued to listen to them […] making it clear that we aren’t psychologists and, in the end, real help is somewhere else”