In Great Britain, under the pretext of the battle against gender discrimination, it borders on exaggeration. At a time in history when gender issues are gaining increasing media and public attention, the Labour government of United Kingdom has taken decisive action against gender extremism, placing significant emphasis on eliminating misogynistic practices and ideologies, which are henceforth considered on a par with other forms of radical extremism. Like terrorism.
The move by the British Home Office, under the leadership of Yvette Coopermarks a paradigm shift in the approach to gender issues, elevating the fight against misogyny to the rank of a national priority in countering extremism. Cooper expressed concern about the spread ofhatred towards womenwhich is increasing both online and in local communities, highlighting how this phenomenon threatens the integrity of communities and democratic principles. The minister also highlighted the need to adopt targeted strategies to eradicate the roots of these ideologies that perpetuate discrimination and lead to abuse and violence against women.
In practice, the minister’s strategy involves mapping and monitoring extremist tendencies to try to prevent young and old from being attracted to them. Then, to approve useful laws to “repress those who push harmful and hateful beliefs and violence”. The review of the strategy anti–radicalization will be completed by autumn and will be the basis for the initiatives that the ministry will launch from the beginning of next year.
According to the proposal, for example, teachers should be obliged to direct students suspected (we repeat: suspected!) of extreme misogyny to Preventthe British government’s anti-terrorism program (criticized by many for its failure to combat Islamic radicalism). Those reported to this program are “monitored” by the local police authority to see if it is necessary to intervene to de-radicalize. In 2022-2023, 6,817 reports were registered, mostly generic “vulnerabilities”, while 19% were suspected right-wing extremists and 11% suspected Islamic extremists.
“For too long, governments have failed to address the rise of extremism, both online and on our streets, and we have seen the number of young people radicalised online grow,” Cooper said. “Hate speech of all kinds fractures and frays the very fabric of our communities and our democracy. Counter-extremism action has been severely undermined in recent years, just when it should have been most needed.”
In fact, the ministry’s focus will not only be on misogyny, but will also extend to examining all forms of extremism plaguing British society, including Islamist extremism And far right. However, the fact that the alleged “extreme hatred towards women” (who will define what is “extreme” and what is “acceptable”?) is compared to Islamic throat-cutters gives a good idea of how the approach appears a little ideological. The Ministry of the Interior today classifies several categories of extremism considered worrying, including precisely “involuntary celibacy,” meaning men blaming women for their lack of sexual opportunities.
In recent days, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the national lead for Policing Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), said that the influence exerted on young people online is “pretty terrifying”. So much so that according to the British government some influencers could radicalize young men and boys into extreme misogyny. In practice, as if they were imams of hatred towards women.