Home secretary orders review of extremism targeted at young women

The government plans to combat the radicalisation of young people online by treating extreme misogyny as terrorism, The Sunday Telegraph has reported.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a review of Britain's counter-extremism strategy, looking at violence against women and girls in the same way as Islamist and far-right extremism, amid fears that current Home Office guidance is too narrow.

This could mean teachers will be legally required to refer pupils they suspect of extreme misogyny to Prevent, the Government’s counter-terror programme.

Teachers are under a legal duty to make a referral to the Prevent scheme if they believe someone is susceptible to becoming radicalised.

Cooper said: “For too long, governments have failed to address the rise in extremism, both online and on our streets, and we’ve seen the number of young people radicalised online grow. Hateful incitement of all kinds fractures and frays the very fabric of our communities and our democracy.”

She said she had ordered Home Office to conduct "a rapid analytical sprint on extremism, to map and monitor extremist trends, to understand the evidence about what works to disrupt and divert people away from extremist views, and to identify any gaps in existing policy which need to be addressed to crack down on those pushing harmful and hateful beliefs and violence."

There is a category of extremism in the government dubbed as 'incel' (a term which refers to a male subcultue that includes violent feelings towards women as a result of feeling rejected romantically or sexually). However, many said this does not capture other forms of extreme misogyny, especially online.