The National Police Chiefs Council has issued a report that warns of the “quite terrifying” radicalisation of young men and boys into extreme misogyny. Senior police officer Maggie Blyth has likened it to how terrorists draw in followers. The report highlights the “national emergency” caused by violence against women and girls in England and Wales. The NPCC estimates that one in 12 women in those countries will be subject to violence every year, or around two million women.
The report identifies several key issues facing victims: sexual violence, domestic abuse, stalking and child sexual abuse. The problem has also been growing, seeing a 37% increase in the number of violent crimes against women and girls between 2018 and 2023. Domestic abuse is growing and remains one of the biggest demands on police officers. The report found some causes of the rise in violence against women and girls has been due to an increase in reporting and more awareness of those crimes.
Online influencers like Andrew Tate have been seen to be promoting this extreme and harmful behaviour. The report explains that Tate is “an element of influencing particularly boys” and that police officers focusing on violence are working with counter-terrorism teams to look at the risks of young men being radicalised. Tate rose to fame after appearing on Big Brother in 2016 but is currently awaiting trial in Romania over allegations of a range of crimes he denies.
The NPCC says it is creating a central hub which provides police forces specialist knowledge and training to help in the fight against such crimes. The government aims to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade. Although so far details of specific plans have been light, Labour has previously said that it would introduce new specialist domestic abuse workers in 999 control rooms and put specialist rape investigation units in every force across England and Wales to prevent and protect victims. However, this would mean an increase in trained police officers and extra resources at a time when policing is facing several challenges including retention and morale issues
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