At the Giulio Cesare high school in Rome, a shocking phrase appeared on the walls of a men’s bathroom: next to the words “rape list” the names and surnames of some female students were written in red. The episode was made public by the student collective Zero Alibis and it happened on Thursday 27 November, just two days after the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
According to what was reported by the collective, the writing appeared on the second floor of the institute. The use of sexual violence as a threat or mockery represents a direct attack on women’s dignity and normalizes dangerous behavior.
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The students remember that a few days earlier two sheets of paper intended to collect signatures had been torn to ask for greater attention to the issue of gender violence at school. The collective reiterated that episodes of this type must not be ignored and called for the introduction of sexual-affective education courses within schools.
The case has sparked outrage and is considered an extremely serious fact, symbol of a climate that can no longer be tolerated.
Such an episode is not just an insult to the students involved: it is the sign of a huge educational void. If today, inside a school, someone feels legitimated to write a “rape list”, it means that there has not been sufficient cultural prevention, that the basis is missing: respect for bodies, for consent, for dignity.
Punishments are needed, of course, but they are not enough. We need sex education truestructured, continuous. Not two hours a year, not spot interventions after an emergency. We talk about teaching what consent is, how to recognize the dynamics of abuse, what relationship, affection and self-determination mean. We talk about dismantling stereotypes, talking openly about sexuality without taboos, tackling language, toxic irony, the rape culture that still permeates part of youth environments.
Until the school becomes the first defense against this type of violence, we will continue to witness similar gestures. Sexual education is not “an option” or an ideological issue: it is a measure of safety, civility and protection. Those who hinder it, in fact, contribute to the growth of boys and girls without the tools to recognize and reject any form of abuse.
This is why it can no longer be postponed: educating to respect the body and relationships is the only way to break down the culture that makes such “lists” possible.
