The rise in gender-based violence demands urgent attention and action. As violence rates against women and trans and gender non-conforming people have increased alarmingly, there is an imperative need to review how today's societies fail to protect minoritized groups. Moreover, artificial intelligence has undoubtedly acquired relevance on the public scene, both seen as a threat and an ally to boost and fight against this type of violence. Following the socially and culturally responsive language teaching and English for social purposes and cooperation approaches, this chapter presents a teaching proposal to address gender-based violence in the language classroom. The tasks are designed following a non-biased gender and queer lens and taking advantage of different Artificial Intelligence tools. It aims to offer language teachers a practical guide for lesson planning and promote artificial intelligence assisted language learning. Ultimately, the chapter attempts to show the potential of queer language education to fight gender-based violence.
TopIntroduction
The concerning rise in gender-based violence (hereafter GBV1) demands urgent attention and action. In recent years, violence rates against women as well as against trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people have increased alarmingly (Human Rights Foundation, 2021; UN Women, 2023), stressing the imperative need to review how today’s societies fail to protect minoritized groups. There are indeed several causes for this recent increase, such as the rise in online harassment due to the ease of access to the internet (Lismini et al., 2023), anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation in many countries (Bayrakdar & King, 2021), or racial, ethnic and social disparities around the world (Lynch & Logan, 2023), just to mention but a few. Moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly acquired relevance in the public scene, both seen as a threat and an ally to boost but also fight against this type of violence (cf. Mahtani, 2023; United Nations Development Programme, 2023). Nevertheless, AI, if used ethically and appropriately, can be an effective tool to reduce GBV if certain measures are taken, for instance by ensuring that AI developers are trained in ethics, strengthening the protection of data privacy to prevent the misuse of personal information, and promoting quality sexuality education on how to recognize and combat the use of online tools for GBV, among other initiatives.
According to different scholars, international bodies and expert groups (i.e., European Expert Group on Sexuality Education, 2016; Schneider & Hirsch, 2020; UNESCO, 2018), it is precisely sexuality education that is vital for promoting informed, responsible, and equitable attitudes among individuals. Certainly, comprehensive sexuality education can help encourage healthy relationships based on respect, consent, communication, and empathy, as well as fight against discrimination and stigma related to sexual orientation and gender identity diversity (Goldfarb & Lieberman, 2021), and ultimately prevent GBV (Carrera-Fernández et al., 2021).
Comprehensive sexuality education can be integrated into various school disciplines, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to learning (Palacios-Hidalgo & Huertas-Abril, 2023a). Indeed, concepts related to sexual and reproductive health, sexual orientation, gender equality, identity and diversity, relationships and consent can be incorporated into subjects such as biology, psychology, ethics, and even languages. In the case of the latter, addressing issues related to sexuality (by teaching relevant vocabulary, using reading materials or simply fostering group discussions) may offer students opportunities to enhance their communication skills and, in turn, promote dialogue about essential topics that may eventually train them to stand against any form of GBV. In fact, specific approaches to language teaching can support the integration of topics related to sexuality education. Such is the case of English for Social Purposes and Cooperation (ESoPC; Huertas-Abril, 2018a) and, more generally, Socially and Culturally Responsive Language Teaching (SCR; Palacios-Hidalgo, 2023), both of which promote the teaching of languages through relevant social and cultural issues and encourage teachers to queer their lessons to promote inclusion, empathy and respect, challenge stereotypes and stigma, meet students’ needs, and prepare informed and better citizens.
Bearing in mind all the aforementioned, this chapter presents a teaching proposal to address the integration of measures to prevent GBV in the language classroom. The tasks are designed following a non-biased gender and queer lens and taking advantage of different AI tools. The proposal aims to offer language teachers a practical guide for lesson planning and promote Artificial Intelligence Assisted Language Learning (AIALL). Ultimately, the chapter attempts to show the potential of queer language education and sexuality education to fight GBV.