UK set to treat extreme misogyny as a form of terrorism: report
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London: The UK government is set to tackle violence against women and girls by treating extreme misogyny as a form of terrorism, NDTV reported citing The Telegraph.
As part of the move, UK home secretary Yvette Cooper sought a review of the counter-terrorism strategy.
The move is aimed at identifying gaps in existing laws alongside studying situations including online misogynistic discourse.
The plan is to consider violence against women as a kind of far-right extremism.
Legislation will make it mandatory for school teachers to refer ‘students they suspect of extreme misogyny to the government’s counter-terror programme’.
The local police will assess those who are thus referred to the programme to see if they show signs of radicalisation, requiring to be deradicalised.
The decision comes after reports that misogynistic influencers including Andrew Tate are known to be radicalizing teenage boys online much like terrorists draw followers.
It is reported last year that counter-extremism workers warned of rising number of cases referred from schools linked to his influence.
Incidents included verbal harassment of female teachers and students that reflected Tate’s views.
The areas of ‘concern’ that the UK Home Ministry has marked include the category of ‘incel’, which is abbreviation of the term ‘involuntary celibate’.
This term refers to the misogynistic view of blaming women for men’s failure to find sexual opportunities.
‘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,’ the Telegraph quoted Cooper as saying.
Meanwhile, report on violence against women and girls published by UK's National Police Chiefs' Council labelled it as a national emergency.