The Prevent Strategy
A Community Interpretation
A simple approach to Prevent
A simple approach to Prevent
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The Prevent Strategy
A Community Interpretation
Contents
03
Introduction
04
Prevent - what is it?
04
Some background
06
The objectives
10
What do these objectives mean exactly?
11
What now?
12
Glossary
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Introduction
My name is Nabeela Khan and I am a postgraduate student from
Manchester. I have written this document because it annoyed me to
hear about the myths and rumours circulating in our communities
about the Government’s Prevent strategy.
But then I had a look at
the
strategy
itself
and
understood
why
this
might be the case; it is
written in over 100 pages of
Government jargon! I think
most postgraduate students
would struggle to understand it,
let alone those of us for
whom English is a second
language. So this is my
humble attempt to make the
Prevent strategy more accessible.
I hope it makes a bit more sense
after you have read this.
Let me start by saying that I
think I am pretty lucky to be a
British citizen. As a British citizen
I get to be part of a free,
democratic and open society. I
can practice my faith and
express my beliefs freely. It is
my
right
to
hold
an
opinion, to gather with others
at a place of worship, to dress
however I want to and to send
my children to the schools of
my choice. Freedom to do all
of these things is mine – and
ours - by right. But with freedom
comes
responsibility.
Being
responsible with our freedom is a
way of showing that we respect
it and appreciate the rights
we have.
However, we do not live in
an ideal society. There are
people who don’t respect
these rights, and in fact abuse
them and pose a threat to our
communities. As members of this
society we have a duty to
stop such individuals from
causing
cracks
in
our
communities and threatening
the way in which we live. We
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must unite and work together,
to help identify these people
so
that
we
can
curb
their behaviour, and where
necessary, provide help, support
and advice for those of them who
are vulnerable.
Document author and Shanaz
Representative for Greater
Manchester: Nabeela Khan
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Prevent – what is it?
Prevent is one strand of the Government’s counter terrorism
strategy, CONTEST. Its main aim is to prevent people from becoming
terrorists or supporting terrorism. Theresa May, MP (Home Secretary and
Minister for Women and Equalities) is in charge of the Prevent
strategy nationally.
Of course, most people of all
faiths (and no faith) in this
country reject terrorism and are
against it. Prevent is not about
convincing citizens that terrorism is wrong,we don’t need
convincing! It is actually about
enlisting the support of people
in our country to reach the
minority who may be attracted
to or drawn into terrorism.
Governments don’t always
get it right. In the past the
Prevent strategy didn’t really
confront the extremist views
that are at the heart of the threat
we face. Sometimes, whilst
trying to reach those at risk
of radicalisation, they even
ended
up
funding
the
extremist organisations that
Prevent should have been
confronting! This is wrong
and a mistake that cannot
be repeated. Prevent initiatives must now be delivered
effectively and responsibly.
As community members we
are much more knowledgeable about our communities
than the Government is. We
are in a much better position
to identify where funding is
needed, where there is a
need for a support and advice
network and where there is
the possible risk of threat etc.
We must take responsibility for
at least some of these areas
because our involvement is vital
to the success of this strategy
and in turn, key to protecting the
society in which we live.
Some background
In order to understand why the Government has come up with the
Prevent strategy, it is important to be aware of the following points:
• The number of people
who are prepared to support
violent extremism in this country
is very small. However, it is much
greater amongst young people.
All the terrorist groups who pose
a threat to us look for people to
recruit to their cause.
• Radicalisation is driven by
an ideology which says it is ok
to use violence. It is also driven
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by people who promote that
ideology here and abroad.
Sometimes radicalisation is even
driven by personal circumstances
as well as local factors which, for
many reasons, make that ideology
seem attractive.
• Those
that
feel
they
do
not
belong
in
this
country, even though they
are British citizens, sometimes
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turn to extremism because the
extremist groups give them
a sense of belonging. Young
people who lack direction in their
lives, suddenly find this through
becoming a part of such
groups. They are vulnerable
and easy targets. We must
safeguard them.
• Prevent should address all
forms of terrorism but because
resources are not unlimited,
it must prioritise according
to the threat posed to our
national security. At the moment,
most efforts will be devoted to
preventing
people
from
joining or supporting Al Qa’ida
or related groups- because
these are the ones that pose the
biggest threat to the UK.
However other terrorist groups
are also continually monitored
and resources allocated as
appropriate to for example
the threat from the Extreme
Right Wing.
• Sometimes ideas are made
popular by extremist organisations which actually operate
legally in this country, but then
terrorist groups can take up and
exploit those ideas. This has
serious implications for the
scope of the Prevent strategy.
We all have a right of free speech
in this country but preventing
terrorism means challenging extremist (and non-violent) ideas
that are also part of a terrorist
ideology. Prevent will also mean
intervening to stop people
moving from extremism into
terrorist related activity.
• Policy and programmes to
deal with extremism and with
extremist organisations more
widely are not part of Prevent
and will be coordinated by the
Department for Communities and
Local Government (DCLG).
• Prevent depends on a
successful integration strategy.
It is important to promote the
need for unity and a sense of
community which makes us all
feel like we are a part of this
society and we belong here.
Support for terrorism is linked
with not being part of a close-knit
and multi-faith society.
• However,
Prevent
will
not take control of allocating
the funding for integration
initiatives, because they are
valuable for many reasons,
not just for helping to reduce the
risk of radicalisation.
• There
have
been
allegations that previous Prevent
programmes have been used
to spy on communities. Prevent
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must not be used as a means
for spying on individuals or
our communities.
• We are all part of this
strategy and as communities we
will help form the backbone of it.
Local authorities will also have a
key part to play. But as a national
security issue, Prevent delivery
needs to be developed in very
close conjunction with central
departments.
• Prevent will be funded from
the Home Office and other
Government departments. Grants
will be made available for local
authority Prevent work.
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The objectives
The following aims have been identified by the Government and give us
an idea of what the Prevent programme is all about. Each aim is followed
by an explanation:
The government says that we
need to “respond to the
ideological
challenge
of
terrorism and the threat
we face from those who
promote it.”
There is more to the problem of
terrorism than the actual act of
violence. The one thing that all
terrorists have in common is that
they have a strong belief in an
idea and they are willing to go to
extremes to promote, or bring
attention to that idea. So work to
challenge these ideas must be a
part of Prevent. The Government
can take the lead sometimes,
but often communities are much
better equipped to refute such
ideas. Most people in this
country find terrorism totally
unacceptable and will never
support it. Work to refute
ideology
should
not
try
to change majority opinion
because it does not need
changing.
Instead,
we
must all try to reach the
much
smaller
number
of
people who are vulnerable to
recruitment and challenge their
thinking. The Government must
help COMMUNITIES to do that,
because it is the communities who
can identify these individuals most
effectively and confront them
most credibly.
All terrorist groups have a
belief in some sort of an idea.
This is what binds them.
The
difference
between
their beliefs and those of
the majority of the people
in our country is that they
believe violence and extremism
can be justified in some way.
Terrorist groups need to attract
and recruit new people. They
do this by promoting what they
believe in. This can be done
with ease using the internet, as
well through other mediums
INSPIRE women’s group have launched a ‘Jihad against Violence’
which condemns terrorism from an Islamic perspective. Read
their declaration at www.wewillinspire.com.
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such
as
gatherings,
and publications.
talks
Sometimes, the people that these
groups try and recruit to their
cause are vulnerable and easy
targets. This is why, as
community members we need
to be alert and active so that
we can help stop such people
falling into the wrong hands.
Challenging the beliefs of these
groups and disrupting their
ability to promote them is a very
important part of Prevent.
Previous work in this area has
failed to engage with communities
properly. It also hasn’t used the
valuable influence and reach
of communities and community
groups. Previous Prevent work
has sometimes given the
misleading
impression
that
Muslim communities as a
whole are more ‘vulnerable’ to
radicalisation than other faith
or ethnic groups. Prevent must
not pass judgment on faith
in general or to suggest that only
a particular kind of faith is
appropriate or acceptable. It
must be delivered in conjunction
with communities here and
overseas who are often better
able than governments to
disprove the claims made
by terrorist groups and to
challenge terrorist and associated
extremist ideologies.
It is important that we have
more projects in education,
communities and the criminal
justice system in order to
challenge extremist views. It
is also important that religious
experts are involved in these
projects because sometimes
the ideas that terrorist groups
promote are based on faith
teachings that have been
altered to suit an agenda. In
these situations experts are
required to give a detailed
response and help to clear any
misunderstandings. None of us
should be afraid to challenge and
question these ideas and claims.
In fact it is our duty to ask
questions – why shouldn’t we
know what is going on in our
communities? We have a right
to know.
Challenge may just mean debate
about extremist ideas, but where
the law is broken and people
are encouraged to support
terrorism, it must also mean
making arrests. And where
people want to come to this
country from overseas to promote
terrorism and terrorist groups
and to put our lives at risk, it
must mean using the Home
Secretary’s power to stop them.
The
next
point
that
the government makes is
that we should “Prevent
people from being drawn
into
terrorism
and
ensure
that
they
are
given appropriate advice
and support.”
Once we have identified that
there may be a problem
within our community, it is
important that we then address
that problem positively. Radicalisation is usually a process and
not an event. During that
process, behaviours as well as
opinions are likely to change.
These
changes
may
be
quite obvious to the friends,
families and work colleagues of
the person concerned.
• In January 2009, Nicky Reilly
was convicted after he attempted
to attack a restaurant in Exeter.
Previously, he had regular
contact with mental health
services and had spoken about
terrorism to them.
• In December 2010, Taimour
Abdulwahab Al-Abdaly killed
himself in a bomb attack in
Stockholm, Sweden. Al-Abdaly’s
extreme
beliefs
and
behaviours had raised concerns
at the mosque he attended in
Luton. He had been challenged
by
mosque
leaders
and
eventually expelled but mosque
leaders
did
not
consider
it appropriate to refer him to
the authorities.
• Andrew Ibrahim was jailed
in July 2009 for plotting to
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blow up a shopping centre in
Bristol. Ibrahim was arrested
after
members
of
the
Muslim community, who had
attended an awareness workshop on Prevent, raised concerns
about him to the police.
These examples show that those
closest to the individuals at risk
of radicalisation are in the best
position to help them. Prevent
isn’t about ‘turning’ on your
friends, families or colleagues.
Rather it is about preventing
them from being radicalised
in the first place. It is about
ensuring that they have access to
the appropriate support and
advice. It is about helping them
to see things from a variety of
viewpoints so that they are
more informed and more
likely to question the views of
others. It is about empowering
the individuals and in turn
making them much more
resilient
and
much
less
vulnerable to exploitation.
The ‘Channel’ process (a multiagency approach) looks after
those people who are vulnerable
to becoming terrorists, and puts
bespoke protective measures
around them to safeguard,
divert
or
educate
them,
or
otherwise
help
them
as necessary.
The final objective that the
government has identified says
that we must “work with
sectors
and
institutions
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The objectives, continued...
where there are risks of
radicalisation which we need
to address”.
Radicalisation tends to happen in
places where terrorist ideologies,
and the people that promote
those
ideologies,
are
not
challenged
and
are
not
exposed to free, open and
balanced debate which would
usually expose their arguments
as misguided.
Lots of sectors in this country
are helping to prevent people
from becoming terrorists or
supporting terrorism. These
sectors include education, faith,
health, criminal justice, charities
and the internet. Communities
themselves however, are the
most crucial.
To make the strategy work,
sectors should understand their
obligations in this area. It is
important to raise awareness
and understanding of the risks of
radicalisation and of how
radicalisers work. Each sector
should be capable of developing an effective response. The
nature of that response and the
role of Government will clearly
vary. Measures that are suitable
in a prison will not be suitable in
a university.
Statistically,
most
terrorist
offences are committed by
people under the age of 30, so
it is vital that schools, colleges
A highly intelligent, prize-winning English student at Kings College
in London, Roshonara Choudhry threw this all away in 2010 when
she became the first Briton sufficiently influenced by the Al-Qaeda
ideology to try to assassinate a public figure on British soil. She
had no previous links with any extremist groups, but in exploring
her concern around the Iraq war, she came across former Al-Qaeda
leader Anwar al-Awlaki’s lectures on the internet. During over 100
hours’ listening she became convinced that she should ‘punish’ MP
Stephen Timms for voting for the Iraq war. Roshonara attended
the MP’s public surgery and stabbed him in the chest. Tellingly
Roshonara used to pray alone at home rather than in a mosque
at congregation, and when asked in her in post-arrest interview
who she went to when she had questions, she replied, “I don’t ask
anyone. I just listen to his (Al-Awlaki’s) lectures. There’s no-one
to ask.” In November 2010, 21 year old Roshonara Choudhry was
jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years.
and universities are part of the
Prevent programme. Through
them we can reach young people
who are at risk and help them to
be more equipped in challenging
such ideologies if and when they
come across them.
Some progress has been made
with all of these sectors. Some
sectors (like faith) have been
at the forefront of work to
tackle radicalisation in this
country. This is inevitable
because
Al-Qaida
ideology,
for example, is driven by
extremist
religious
beliefs;
therefore mosques play a
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key role in helping to tackle
such ideologies because they
are better equipped to deal
with this than Government
officials. If a religious belief has
been twisted so that it can fit
an agenda then who better to
address this than the religious
leaders themselves? This is why
community cooperation is so
important for the success
of Prevent. The Government
wants to work with these
sectors and the community
because they are often more
capable of addressing and
resolving the challenges we
face now.
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What do these objectives mean exactly?
What now?
In short, these objectives make
three important points:
The message is simply this: prevention is better than cure. Let’s deal with
the problem when we notice it, not when it gets out of hand.
1. Terrorist ideas should be identified
and challenged.
2. Vulnerable people should be supported
and protected from becoming terrorists
or supporting terrorism.
3. Communities, institutions and
the Government should all work
together to tackle the problem
of extremism.
As members of the community, it is
clear that we are an important part of
Prevent, without our support and input,
the strategy will not work.
All three of the objectives share one
aim: that through preventative work
we want to contain and challenge
radicalisation and minimise the risks
that it may present to our
national security.
Let’s nip this problem in the bud.
Why wait for it to become so big
that we struggle to cope with
it? The main point is that the
problems of extremism, terrorism and radicalisation are a very
real part of our society. The few
individuals who promote these
ideas receive the attention they
want by being loud and active.
Why should we all sit back and
let them speak on our behalf?
If they are loud, we should be
louder. If there is something
going on in our community that
we feel isn’t right, we should
address it. We shouldn’t ignore
it. It is our responsibility!
The one thing that we must
all remember when it comes
to any strategy, whether it is
designed by the Government or
the people, is that for it to work,
we must all work together. We
must first ask ourselves: ‘Do I
have a responsibility to make
a contribution?’ Then we must
ask ourselves whether or not
we are doing enough to make a
positive change!
In the last ten years we have
seen our country and the
world in which we live change
dramatically. This hasn’t been
something we have been able
to control, but we can control
what happens next. We can do
this by taking responsibility and
accepting that there has been
a change and then stepping
up to protect the communities
we live in. We have a duty to
speak up and raise awareness
of the issues of radicalisation
and terrorism. As community
members we have to be active.
We have to know the community
we are living in. If we all take
responsibility to just educate and
protect ourselves, our families,
The Shanaz Network at work
and the 40 houses that surround
us, eventually we will all be
making at least some sort of a
contribution. When people come
together and speak up, the
possibilities are endless.
How can you contribute to
this effort?
To learn more about the strategy
Please visit the Home Office website
(http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/counter-terrorism/prevent/prevent-strategy/),
where you will find lots of information and details about Prevent and other government initiatives.
The Shanaz Network is a national community dedicated to bringing female voices into every
level of decision making in Prevent strategy, policy and delivery. To find out more, visit
www.shanaznetwork.co.uk
If you wish to report any web related activity that is causing you concern then please visit
http://innovate-apps.direct.gov.uk/widgets/ctiru/ for more information.
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Glossary
Terrorism
The current UK definition of terrorism is given in the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT 2000). In summary this defines
terrorism as an action that endangers or causes serious violence to a person/people; causes serious damage
to property; or seriously interferes or disrupts an electronic system. The use or threat must be designed to
influence the government or to intimidate the public and is made for the purpose of advancing a political,
religious or ideological cause.
Extremism
A vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty
and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also include in our definition of extremism
calls for the death of members of our armed forces, whether in this country or overseas.
Ideology
A set of beliefs. These beliefs can be religious, political or personal.
Prevention
Reducing or eliminating the risk of individuals becoming involved in terrorism. Prevent involves the identification
and referral of those at risk of being involved in violent extremism.
Radicalisation
The process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism.
Radicaliser
A person who encourages others to develop or adopt beliefs and views that support terrorism and forms of
extremism leading to terrorism.
Radicalising locations
Venues, often unsupervised, where the process of radicalisation takes place. Locations include public spaces, for
example university campuses and mosques, as well as private/more concealed locations such as homes, cafes,
and bookstores.
Radicalising materials
Literature or videos that are used by radicalisers to encourage individuals to adopt a violent ideology. Some of
this material may openly encourage violence.
Vulnerability
Describes the condition of being capable of being injured; difficult to defend; open to moral or ideological attack.
Within Prevent, the word describes factors and characteristics associated with being at risk of radicalisation.
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