In the framework of the SAFE project -Impact of the Bystander Intervention for a school culture that overcomes gender violence-, this paper presents outstanding results that show the impact of the Dialogic Model of Prevention and Conflict Resolution (Padrós, 2014; Villarejo et al., 2019; Duque et al., 2021) in curbing gender violence in adolescents in the context of a secondary school.

The SAFE project builds on previous research on the preventive socialization of gender-based violence (Rodríguez-Oramas et al., 2020) and on previous findings that highlight the importance of peer group intervention (Ortega et al., 2004; Gallardo-Nieto et al., 2021) and the community perspective (Steiner & Spear, 2020) to improve coexistence and prevent such violence. This approach highlights the importance of educational centres as spaces from which to intervene effectively in the prevention of gender-based violence. This paper presents short-term results in the prevention, reduction and elimination of gender violence achieved in a secondary school participating in the project.

Gender violence is a problem present in multiple contexts and from very early ages (UNICEF, 2014). The school context, as a context of socialization, does not escape this reality (UNESCO, 2015, 2016) and can both propitiate and prevent situations of gender-based violence. In this sense, previous research points to the importance of promoting interventions based on bystander intervention (Ortega Del Rey & Mora-Merchán, 2004; Farley et al., 2020; Gallardo-Nieto et al., 2021) and a community perspective (Theriot, 2008; Steiner & Spear, 2020). The Dialogic Model of conflict prevention and resolution, based on these two components, has shown positive impacts on the improvement of school coexistence (Padrós, 2014; Villarejo et al., 2019; Duque et al., 2021) and is being analyzed from the R&D project “SAFE: Impact of the Bystander intervention for a school culture overcoming gender violence” as a model that can contribute to addressing the problem of gender violence in the school context.

For this purpose, during 3 years, educational centres that implement the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution have been analyzed (2 primary education centres, two secondary education centres, and one primary and secondary education centre) in order to know both its impact on the prevention, reduction or overcoming of gender violence and the characteristics of its implementation that contribute to these impacts. Within this framework, this communication focuses on the analysis of one of the secondary schools, which has the singularity of initiating the implementation of the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution at the same time as the project begins, which allows us to show the impacts achieved in the short term.

The study uses the communicative methodology (Gómez et al., 2006), which seeks to involve the subjects participating in the research throughout the process and promote the co-creation of knowledge. This process has shown a significant social impact in previous studies (Roca et al., 2022). Over 3 years, 12 semi-structured interviews with a communicative orientation were conducted with students and faculty, in which we delved into their experience in implementing the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution. Although the interviews were focused on this purpose, participants were invited to provide any information they considered relevant to the topic of study. Six communicative life stories were also conducted with key informants involved from the very beginning in implementing the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution in their centre. Finally, seven communicative observations were carried out in different areas of the centre, some during breaks, in the sessions of the joint coexistence commission, or during interactive group sessions. The interviews and narratives were recorded and then transcribed for subsequent analysis according to the established categories focused mainly on identifying the impacts observed, especially about preventing or reducing gender-based violence. The research responds to the requirements of the Ethics Committee of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (project coordinator), which ensures that R&D&I activities comply with existing regulations on methodological, ethical and legal requirements for research, including obtaining the informed consent of the participants prior to their participation. The project is carried out based on the communicative methodology (Gómez et al., 2019; Padrós, 2014), which includes the creation of an Advisory Board that reviews the results and documentation derived from the project to ensure its scientific and ethical validity and social utility. The analysis based on interviews with teachers and students, communicative life stories and communicative observations carried out during the three years of project development has shown the relevance of implementing the Successful Educational Action known as Zero Violence Brave Club.

The Communicative Aprroach, framed within the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution, has proven to be fundamental in fostering a school culture based on rejecting gender-based violence. The study of this centre, which began implementing the Dialogic Model simultaneously with the start of the project, has made it possible to identify some of the impacts of the model in the short term. The results obtained show that adolescents have begun to break their silence regarding situations of gender-based violence in their daily lives. This change is attributed to increased awareness of this problem, which has increased the number of complaints. Thanks to the interactions generated within the educational community, especially among adolescents, this progress has been achieved through implementing the Zero Violence Brave Club. These interactions have been essential to building a culture of rejection of gender violence and consolidating effective responses based on the active participation of those who witness situations of gender violence. The analysis of the results obtained in the secondary school participating in the study shows that from the moment the application of the Club de Valientes begins, within the framework of the Dialogic Model of Conflict Prevention and Resolution, the interactions among students change and the first impacts on the prevention and reduction of gender violence are produced. These results complement evidence obtained in other educational centres, which have a longer and more consolidated trajectory of model application. Likewise, these results reinforce the importance of continuing research in this line to achieve a more detailed knowledge of how the different advances in the prevention and reduction of gender violence are consolidated, as well as the elements that lead to it, in order to contribute to progress towards the goals of quality education and gender equality established in the SDGs.

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