The USAV: shocking in the identification of violence and another step towards its eradication

Abstract

The Ministry of Education of the Government of Catalonia set up the Support Unit for the Student Body in a situation of Violence (USAV, in Catalan) in 2021, given the need for a specific tool to visualize and identify violence within schools that could also serve as a liaison for the first protection and reparation interventions. This article summarizes its implantation process, the reasons behind its inception and gives details about how it works, its composition and its main principles. It also mentions the main contact details accessible to the school communities. Besides, it also explains the formative offer that has come with its creation and that has been provided to the schools, and the spreading measures that have been implemented in order to divulge the existence of the USAV and how it works. The Ministry has put out several influencer-led campaigns and published pedagogical guides, containing various classroom activity proposals, aiming to encourage sex and relationship education in Catalan schools. Lastly, the article offers evaluation data that show the reach of USAV's work. The authors discuss some possible explanations of the increase seen in possible violence cases in which USAV has helped, and cite other measures implemented by the Ministry to ensure emotional wellbeing and to prevent violent situations.