For the first time, the UK government plans to treat extreme misogyny as a form of terrorism, the Telegraph reports.
To tackle rising incidents of violence against women and girls, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has ordered a review of counter-terrorism strategy that will help identify loopholes in current laws as well as study emerging ideologies, especially anti-women discourse online.
The move would treat violence against women in the same way as far-right extremism is viewed.
Under the proposed law, school teachers would be required to refer students they suspect of being excessively misogynistic to the government’s counter-terrorism programme.
Anyone who is referred to this program is screened by the local police to see if they show signs of radicalism and need to be deradicalized.
It comes after reports warned that misogynistic influencers such as Andrew Tate are radicalising teenage boys online in a similar way to how terrorists attract followers.
Last year, anti-extremism activists warned that there had been a rise in the number of cases being referred to them by schools concerned about their influence. The reports included incidents of verbal harassment of female teachers or other students who reflected the views of the influential person.
The UK Home Office has identified several categories of extremism as areas of “concern” and includes the category of “incel” – an abbreviation of the term “involuntary celibate” – which refers to a misogynistic attitude that blames women for not having the sexual opportunities that men do.
UK authorities now fear the category excludes other forms of extreme misogyny.
“For too long governments have failed to address the problem of rising extremism online and in the streets, and we have seen a rise in the numbers of young people radicalised online. Hateful incitement of all kinds is undermining and weakening our communities and the very fabric of our democracy,” Ms Cooper told the Telegraph.
Last month, Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council published a report on violence against women and girls, describing it as a national emergency.
