Misogyny will be treated as a form of extremism in the United Kingdom, under new government plans.
The UK’s home secretary, Yvette Cooper has ordered a review of the nation’s counter-extremism strategy to determine how best to tackle threats by “extremist ideologies”, including an analysis at the hatred of women as one of the ideological trends.
Other ideological trends to be investigated by the Home Office include “Islamism” and far-right “extremism”. It will also look at the causes of the radicalisation of young people.
“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,” said Cooper, who is part of the UK’s new Labour government.
“That’s why I have directed the 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.”
The work is expected to be completed by October, and Labour says they hope to launch the new strategy in early 2025. Labour spokespeople have also said that the review is necessary as there’s been no new strategy of this kind since 2015.
It’s important to note that the UK government is classifying misogyny as a form of extremism, rather than terrorism– as the two terms can often be misused interchangeably.
The UK refers to terrorism as threats or action designed to influence the government or intimidate the public, where such activities are made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.
In contrast, extremism is referred to as a less well-defined term, encompassing potentially lawful activities falling short of terrorism, but which may be a precursor to violent action.
Misogyny is a widespread issue in the UK. According to the campaign group Femicide Census, a woman is killed by a man every three days in the country.
The national rise in misogyny has also been linked to “incel” culture, which refers to people (usually men) who call themselves “involuntarily celibate”, and take out their anger on women as well as the wider society.
A mass shooting in Plymouth in 2021 was linked to Incel ideology, and the rise of misogynists on social media, such as Andrew Tate, are thought to have pushed the new UK government to examine policy surrounding the issue.
Riots have erupted across the UK following a spread of misinformation regarding the identity of a suspect in the Southport stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga session at the end of July. Agitators misleadingly blamed the attack on a muslim migrant, and the UK’s Home Office has reported more than 1,000 arrests have been made related to the recent public disorder.