Women’s Aid highlights the negative impact of the PREVENT strategy

Isabelle Younane, Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Women’s Aid, highlights the negative impact of the PREVENT strategy

“Gender-based violence is driven by structural inequality, with attitudes of sexism and misogyny rife across society at large. Tackling violence against women and girls, and the inequalities that cause it, must stand alone as a priority for government, rather getting buried within its counter-terrorism agenda. Funding must be made available for the delivery of frontline services to survivors of domestic abuse, along with sufficient investment in a culture change at a national level.

“We are also concerned that the Prevent Strategy has been heavily criticised for its weak evidence base, which focuses on radicalisation and terrorism as a result of religion and ideology – rather than social, economic and political factors. Organisations led ‘by and for’ Black and minoritised women have documented the racism and severe harm the strategy has had on the women they support, saying it has fuelled the surveillance and over-policing of Black and minoritised communities.

“Women’s Aid has expressed concern about this line of work from the start, outlining these problems to the Home Secretary in August 2020, and we urge government to listen.”