The Basque Youth Observatory (OVJ) addresses the issue of violence in the study Perception of violence among Basque youth. It raises questions about the place of violence in society and especially among young people. The study also discussed the "spaces where violence prevails", the "participation or suffering in situations of violence", the "factors that can influence the development of violent behaviors" and, finally, the "causes that would justify the use of violence". 4,918 people aged 15-30 years from Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa responded to the questionnaire in 2021.

With regard to the report, an element that appears in the results is striking and that the OEG does not pay any attention to the conclusions: against a list of different types of violence, 9.9% of young people claimed to have suffered a physical attack by the police or other security officer. According to this, almost one in ten young people suffered police violence until then. For men, the proportion is even higher, 13.5%. For the women, it was lower, 6.1%, lower, but not lower, for the following reasons.

By gender and typology

Data from the OEG show that, on average, police violence against youth is more frequent than other socially recognized forms of violence, such as that of friends (9.7%) and teachers (5.6%). Reporting male and female data separately, this proportion of 6.1 per cent of young women who have suffered physical police assaults is higher than that of women who have suffered teacher attacks (4 per cent).

Data on males are very different, but they have to do with police violence being more frequent than psychological abuse by parents (12.4%), physical aggression by friends (12.5%) and teachers (7.2%). Moreover, the percentage of men who have experienced police violence is close to the rate of parental physical violence (15.2%).

Legitimization of violence

On the other hand, 6.2% of the CAPV youth stated that they "had ever participated in violent incidents with the police", 4.1% in women and 8.3% in men. Taking in hand the census figures for 2021 of young people between 15 and 30 years of age from Eustat, it can be estimated that in the CAPV the young people with experience in police conflicts were about 19,000, more than double the total number of police officers from the Ertzaintza. On the other hand, there is a difference of 3.7 points between those who have experienced and rebelled against police violence, that is, more than a third of young people who have suffered police violence may not have actively confronted police officers.

However, the OEG shows that 13.2% of the young people of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa see the use of violence as a legitimate "act of protest or claim before an injustice", approximately 40,000 young people. This is what 10.7 per cent of women of this age and 15.6 per cent of men think.

In view of the 6.2 per cent proportion of those who acknowledge having participated in the collisions with the police, it can be concluded that less than half of those who justify the use of violence in protest contexts have put force against the police. Thus, it can be concluded that confrontations with the police have been less than they can be, since the proportion of legitimizers of the use of violence in protest actions is more than twice that of those who have actually faced the police.

However, these figures should not be read as they are, unilaterally and mechanically. Social reality is more complex and has more variables: for example, 86.1% of young people feel legitimized to defend themselves, 77.7% to defend family and friends and 71.6% to defend the other people being attacked.

It is not possible to accurately predict how all the people who hold these values would act; if what is attacked by the police is oneself, family member, friend or other person. However, three other things are quite certain: the difference between word and action in every way, that those who see no justification for the use of violence are only 9.6%, and that, although it is not usual to deal with police attacks, a significant proportion face them.

Conclusions

There is a clear imbalance between the incidence of police attacks on young people and their presence in public debate. As observed in the average among women, men and both, violence is statistically more frequent than other forms of public centrality, or at least to this extent it is recognized by young people from the three territories. Therefore, from the testimonies of young people, it cannot be said that police violence against them is an "atypical" fact.

Young people who question police authority and are willing to actively confront are, in general, a minority in the CAPV. However, one in ten has suffered some kind of police attack, so 40,000 young people consider it legitimate to face the police and about 19,000 have already done so, making them minorities to take into account.