Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, ordered a review of the counter-terrorism strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, identify gaps in current legislation and examine emerging ideologies, according to The Guardian.
Therefore, under the new proposal, which would protect women and girls from misogyny, particularly educators would have a legal duty to refer students they suspect of extreme misogyny to Prevent, the UK government’s counter-terrorism programme.
The review is due to be completed by this autumn as part of a new counter-extremism strategy to be unveiled by the Home Office next year. The Home Office explains that the category includes “incels” or “involuntary celibates” – an online subculture in which men promote a misogynistic worldview by blaming women for their lack of sexual ability.
Online influencers can radically lead young males into extreme misogyny in the same way that terrorists attract their followers. Police cite the example of Andrew Tate, who has previously issued statements online expressing the view that victims of sexual assault should bear some responsibility for the fact that they experienced rape or harassment.
We know that some of this is also linked to radicalisation of young people online, we know the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing particularly boys, is quite terrifying and that’s something that both the leads for counter-terrorism in the country and ourselves from a VAWG perspective are discussing, according to Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the national head of VAWG.
Counter-extremism experts warned last year of a rise in incident reports sent to them by schools concerned about Tate’s influence. Incidents included verbal harassment of female teachers or other pupils and outbursts echoing the influencer’s views. Tate is currently awaiting trial in Romania on charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He denies the charges.
Blyth noted the rather controversial online influence on the boys, describing it as “quite terrifying.” In addition, she also said that the Online Safety Act should go further and that more immediate measures to protect children should be in place.
Senior officers focused on the problem of violence against women and girls are in contact with counter-terrorism teams to look at the risk of radicalising young people, according to Blithe. At the same time, the National Police Chiefs’ Council published a report on violence against women and girls, making it a national emergency.
