Prevent / Hate Crime
Preventing Terrorism
The Government has in place a counter-terrorism strategy called CONTEST. Prevent is one of the strands of CONTEST, which aims to prevent people from becoming or supporting terrorists. The strategy provides a stronger focus on safeguarding and supporting those vulnerable to radicalisation with tailored support and multiagency risk management.
If you are concerned about a child or vulnerable person being vulnerable to radicalisation, then please contact your local Prevent lead Fiona Gibbs at fgibbs@hillingdon.gov.uk or 07946714637.
Hillingdon Prevent National Referral Form 2024 (PDF) [214KB]
Training
Please see available sessions and details on how to book here: Prevent Training Sessions for Autumn 2024 (PDF) [126KB]
Online Radicalisation
Radicalisation is a process by which individuals, often young people, move from supporting moderate mainstream views to supporting extreme ideological views. This process can occur online through exposure to and engagement with violent ideological propaganda, or offline through extremist network makes those at risk more likely to support terrorism and violent acts of extremism, and possibly even commit such criminal acts themselves.
Anyone can be radicalised but there are some factors which may make a person morevulnerable. These include:
- being easily influenced or impressionable
- having low self-esteem or being isolated
- feeling that rejection, discrimination or injustice is taking place in society experiencing community tension amongst different groups
- being disrespectful or angry towards family and peers
- having a strong need for acceptance or belonging
- experiencing grief such as loss of a loved one.
Online Risks
Radicalisers use techniques to groom people and draw them in and might even seem or look harmless to start with. Be vigilant and find out who children, young people and vulnerable adults might be coming into contact with online, and what they are seeing, hearing and talking about.
Young people can see all kinds of things online via social media and through online gaming. The popularity of online gaming has given extremists mor eopportunities to make their narratives sound more mainstream and reach out and radicalise others.
Extremist groups, of all ideologies, utilise social media platforms and internet forums, which they know are full of people.
Resources
The Department for Education (DfE) has published a Prevent duty self-assessment tool to assist colleges and providers in the further education and skills (FE) sector in England to review their Prevent responsibilities. Guidance on how to use the self-assessment tool has also been published. Read the self-assessment tool and guidance: Prevent duty self-assessment tool: further education
London Grid For Learning (LGFL) - safeguarding cpd on Incels and the 'manosphere' . This session unpicks this extremist misogynistic group, exploring why Incels pose a danger to others and to themselves, and how we can proactively identify concerns. Topics include:
- Is there a particular profile?
- What social media platforms should we watch out for?
- What language / words should we look out for?
- How can we raise awareness with parents and families?
- Why and how is it also relevant for younger children?
- Can girls ever be incels?
Going Too Far? (lgfl.org.uk) is a practical resource for teachers to empower young people to:
- recognise examples of extremist behaviour and content online
- understand actions which could be identified as criminal activity
- explore techniques used for persuasion and build resilience through critical thinking
- access support from trusted individuals and organisations
Each section includes:
- starter videos featuring experts or case studies
- scenario-based activities to promote discussion and reflection
- guidance to facilitate discussions in an age-appropriate way and consolidate learning
Markers Indicative of Concern of Potential Radicalisation (PDF) [487KB]
Hate Crime Workshops
