More and more news about fake images generated through Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. The results of the barometer of the Center for Sociological Research on Male Violence, in which one in five young people denies male violence, have also not gone unnoticed. These cases are not isolated, they characterize the evolution of male violence, and highlight two trends that are deepening especially among young people: the hardening of new forms of violence, especially by the influence of new technologies, and the dissemination of reactionary ideas.

The development of capitalist society, far from rejecting male violence, adapts it to new contexts, such as violence exercised through digital applications. The spread of new technologies has facilitated access to sexual content. Today, in addition to platforms where pornographic content is shared, sexual content can also be found in other everyday applications such as Instagram, Tik tok or Onlyfans. It is also necessary to highlight the role of the WFD, as all types of content can be generated through these applications.

All these platforms are part of the market that define women as a sexual object and therefore support any kind of violence against working women. We are therefore concerned about the possible consequences for younger generations, which have become common practices such as creating WhatsApp groups to share sexual images or threats and insults against girls.

Male violence is one of the cruellest faces of the reality of working women and has conditions for reproducing itself again and again within capitalism. Capitalist society regards working women as a secondary subject and male violence reinforces this situation and deepens in oppression. The existence of male violence is necessary for the maintenance of the capitalist economy, a social structure that constantly reproduces it.

In addition, we can see the rise of reactionary and macho ideas in organizations, digital platforms or on the street. More and more young people are minimizing or directly denying male violence, because they see a secondary problem. Mention should also be made of the reactionary speech by the right-wing political parties, which has supported the ideas mentioned above.

On the other hand, the electoral proposals against machismo are limited to the mere management of violence: the resources they offer are limited, do not guarantee the quality of the means and, furthermore, do not rule out the conditions of misery, material or cultural, which condemn us to this situation. Rather than favouring the interests of working women, the institutional and bureaucratic parties defend their political interests in order to maintain their economic and social position, both of the workers themselves and of the members of the middle class. The only possibility of change is in legal reforms, which, despite demonstrating their ineffectiveness, have not also served to cope with the expansion of reactionary ideas. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that the increase on the right is partly due to the inability of the social democracy to manage the crisis effectively.

To end this structural problem, it is necessary to create a social organization without violence or oppression. We have to build social and political conditions in this direction today, confronting the industries that normalize male violence and building a political force that will allow us to gain greater control over our lives. We must develop firm responses to male violence, regardless of the institutions’ inability to solve the problem, even in their most advanced approach.

Irene Ruiz and Maitane Urkola, members of Itaia