Extreme misogynists to be treated as terrorists under government plans

Extreme misogyny will be treated as a form of terrorism under new government plans.

A Home Office review of the UK counter-extremism strategy later this year will look at including the issue within its definition of ‘an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance’.

It will also investigate whether a new approach would be more effective at combating the two most common forms of terrorism in the country: extreme far-right, and Islamist.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper hopes the review will fill gaps in the current strategy, which she described as ‘badly hollowed out’.

She 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.’

Under the plans, teachers would be legally required to refer students who are showing signs of extreme misogynistic views to the national counter-terror programme Prevent.

The local authority and police would then assess them to find out if they require deradicalisation.

Currently, the Home Office’s list of extremism categories includes ‘incel’ – a shortening of ‘involuntary celibate’, which describes a form of violent hatred towards woman by men who feel rejected by them due to a sense of entitlement.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, officials feel that this category does not sufficiently cover the full range of extreme misogyny.

Cooper described the upcoming review as a ‘a rapid analytical sprint on extremism’ which will ‘map and monitor extremist trends’ and ‘understand the evidence about what works to disrupt and divert people away from extremist views’.

Asked if the move to change the approach to misogyny could threaten free speech, government minister Jess Phillips told LBC: ‘You just use the exact same test you would with far-right extremism and Islamism, wouldn’t you. The same test would have to apply.

‘People can hold views about women all they like, but it’s not OK any more to ignore the massive growing threat caused by online hatred towards women and for us to ignore it because we’re worried about the line, rather than making sure the line is in the right place as we would do with any other extremist ideology.’

What is misogyny?

Misogyny is defined as a dislike or hatred of women, or an ingrained prejudice against them.

The issue has gained a lot of attention in recent years due to prominent incidents of violence against women, such as the murder of Sarah Everard by Metropolitan police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

At an inquest in January last year, a jury was told Jake Davison – who killed five people on a shooting rampage in Plymouth three years ago – held strong misogynistic views and idolised mass killers from the ‘incel’ movement.

Teachers around the country have also raised concerns over the impact of influencer Andrew Tate, who calls himself a misogynist, on boys and young men.

Last month, Maggie Blyth of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) described the way Tate and similar online figures are influencing boys as ‘quite terrifying’.

The issue of misogyny and violence against women and girls should be treated as a national emergency, an NPCC report said.

Tate and his brother Tristan are currently awaiting trial in Romania accused of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. They deny the charges.

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