On January 29, 2026, the government published a press release on gender-based and sexual violence in schools. We learn that“in middle school, 15% of girls and 12% of boys report having been exposed to at least one form of sexual violence”.
#Press release | The Government publishes data concerning gender-based and sexual violence in schools: https://t.co/KVVERnxv4B @auroreberge pic.twitter.com/WonXM3m86k
— Ministry of Equality (@egalite_gouv) January 29, 2026
These figures refer to data collected in a school climate and victimization survey, carried out by the Ministry of National Education in spring 2022. Concretely, this survey questions students about events that have occurred since the start of the school year: attacks on property, physical, psychological and sexual attacks. These cover voyeurism in toilets or changing rooms, touching, caressing within or near the school and forced kissing.
Sexual violence is therefore dealt with mainly face-to-face. Cyberviolence is the subject of a separate category, including in particular the non-consensual viewing of images of a sexual nature, which concerns 4.4% of middle school students.
Despite the absence of data on the effect of digital technology on sexual violence, the press release of January 29 designates social networks as “a powerful factor in amplifying this violence” and calls for a ban on digital platforms before 15 years. This reading calls for discussion.
Sexual violence more frequent than announced
In spring 2023, we conducted a study for the Hubertine-Auclert Center (Paris region center for gender equality) on gender (cyber)violence in adolescence. These are defined as any harmful act committed against a person because of their sex or non-conformity to gender roles, whether face-to-face or in the digital space. The objective was in particular to carefully document sexual violence and its circulation between school, outdoor and digital spaces.
The survey was carried out in fourteen establishments in Île-de-France, representative of the region, with students from sixth to final year. Among the 1,669 responses collected at the college, 847 came from girls, 801 from boys and 21 from non-binary people.
First observation: 43% of middle school students say they have suffered at least one form of sexual violence in the past year. Girls and non-binary people are more likely to report at least one form of sexual violence (44% compared to 41% of boys). These figures are incommensurable with those from the institutional survey. Why such a gap? Essentially because the scope of the facts studied differs.
Our survey includes, beyond attacks and touching, violence that is often minimized or made invisible: sexual outrages (36%), such as sexual mimes (22%), imposed sexual comments (20%), insistent sexual solicitations (9%) and forced viewing of sexual images (12%); sexual assault (14%), such as touching (11%) and forced kissing (7%); or even attacks on intimate images (7%), such as the forced production of intimate images (3%), sextortion (4%), disclosure (3%), theft (2%) or even the editing of intimate images (1%). Furthermore, 2% of middle school students reported having suffered other forms of sexual violence, a figure that potentially includes rape.
In 71% of cases, the perpetrators are minor boys who act alone (47%) or in a group (24%). In other words, when we look at the entire continuum of sexual violence, their scale appears much greater.
Where does this violence take place?
Second observation: sexual violence is more frequent in schools than elsewhere. Of all the facts reported, 43% occurred in the school space, 24% in the digital space and 5% both online and in college. The remaining 29% took place outside (in private or public face-to-face spaces).
Most sexual violence occurs overwhelmingly in the school setting, such as assaults (53% compared to 3% online and 1% hybrid) or insults (46% compared to 24% online and 6% hybrid).
Intimate image attacks are most frequently committed online (63% compared to 8% in college and 5% in hybrid). This violence is in fact facilitated by digital tools which make it possible to capture, save, edit and distribute images. Nevertheless, 15% of acts of sextortion (and 4% in hybrid) and 9% of disclosures of intimate images (and 11% in hybrid) took place on school grounds, which suggests the persistence of forms of capture and dissemination of images disconnected from social networks.
These results invite us to think about the porosity and overlapping of violence between digital and school spaces. An image produced under stress in a room can be printed and distributed in college; a sexual mime in class can be filmed and shared on a messenger, etc.
Digital, amplifier or developer?
Attributing responsibility for sexual violence solely to social networks poses several problems. On the one hand, the majority of recorded violence takes place mainly in school spaces. In other words, sexual violence does not need digital platforms to exist and it is first in college that we must act.
Rather, these platforms play the role of revealing violence, which amplifies certain dimensions: the expansion of the public, the sharing of information and personal images, the permanence of content, the plausibility of rumors, the release of toxic words or the feeling of impunity.
To change the situation, we must first recognize the real extent of sexual violence in adolescence, which requires broadening its definition.
(Cyber)sexual violence is part of reputational issues specific to juvenile sociability. Digital platforms do not create gender norms ex nihilo, but they accelerate their circulation and reinforce their visibility. An intimate image disseminated without consent can thus produce lasting stigmatization, particularly for girls.
Prohibiting access to platforms before the age of 15 cannot therefore constitute a sufficient response. Such a measure leaves intact the gender dynamics and power relations that structure adolescent interactions, both online and in college.
Breaking down prevention policies
To change the situation, we must first recognize the real extent of sexual violence in adolescence, which requires broadening its definition. It is also necessary to decompartmentalize existing systems. Programs to combat harassment (such as the Phare program), media and information education (EMI) and education for emotional life, relationships and sexuality (Evars) still work in silos.
However, our data shows that sexual violence is located precisely at the intersection of these fields: gender relations, digital uses, group dynamics. Effective prevention requires articulating these dimensions: working on gender norms, on consent, on the management of images and personal data, but also on the logic of reputation, confidentiality and moderation specific to social networks.
Finally, the actions must involve the students themselves so that they learn to recognize sexual violence, so that they feel legitimate to challenge it. The “Embarrassing, especially violent” awareness platform offers educational resources to objectify situations that are often trivialized.
Ultimately, the question is not to choose between digital regulation and educational action. It is to understand that sexual violence in adolescence forms a relational system that crosses spaces. Because, if digital technology transforms the ways in which violence circulates, the primary problem lies in the persistence of unequal gender relations, which the school’s mission is precisely to deconstruct.
