Influencers driving extreme misogyny, say police
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Online influencers like Andrew Tate are radicalising boys into extreme misogyny in a way that is “quite terrifying”, police are warning.
Senior police officer Maggie Blyth said young men and boys could be radicalised in the same way that terrorists draw in followers.
The National Police Chiefs Council describes the issue as a “national emergency” in its report into violence against women and girls.
The NPCC estimated at least one in 12 women in England and Wales would be a victim of violence every year – or about two million women.
And it said the problem had been growing, with “more complicated types of offending”.
Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth said officers who focused on violence against women and girls were now working with counter-terrorism teams to look at the risk of young men being radicalised.
Speaking about harmful content online, she said: “We know that some of this is also linked to radicalisation of young people online, we know the influencers, Andrew Tate, the element of influencing of particularly boys, is quite terrifying and that’s something that both the leads for counterterrorism in the country and ourselves from a VAWG [violence against women and girls] perspective are discussing.”
Mr Tate is a controversial British-American influencer and self-proclaimed “misogynist” who rose to fame after appearing on Big Brother in 2016.
He is currently awaiting trial in Romania over allegations of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women – charges he denies.
Schools across the UK previously told the BBC they were encountering increasing numbers of pupils who admired Mr Tate.
Content retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cne4vw1x83po.
