Our Expert Views
Rich, readable blogs from our experts who work among the community, in academia and research on new developments in Prevent and their real impact on people.
The People's Review of Prevent
The People’s Review of Prevent is an alternative review to the Government Shawcross Review.
This review provides a voice to the people most impacted by the Prevent Duty.
Prevent is described as ‘safeguarding’ children from harms. However, under Prevent, safeguarding is focused on protecting the wider public from children believed to be ‘risky’, rather than protecting children from harms.
Throughout our report we present case studies that show how real these harms can be and the distress they cause to children and their families and carers.
I recently reconnected with a mother I had supported a few years ago. She shared that she had never forgotten the help Prevent Watch provided her. What she didn’t realise is that the feeling was mutual; I hadn’t forgotten her either. In...
When I first had the honour of visiting Palestine many years ago, a friend told me very clearly to speak about what we, as guests, had witnessed and to never stop talking about Palestine when we return to our homes. At the time, this seemed...
On Monday, I was at Amnesty International’s offices, meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. It was an opportunity for directors from several civil society organisations to ensure he heard about the most urgent...
Ramadan Reflection: A mother’s courage and forgiveness meant more people got support against Prevent
After last week’s newsletter, many of you asked to hear about more of our cases. Some of these cases still make me reflect today, not only because of what happened, but because of the lessons they teach. This week, I want to share one of my...
Several months ago, I was contacted by a mother whose daughter had been excluded from school and referred to Prevent for saying “Free Palestine”. This is just one of many cases we see at Prevent Watch, some of which include young children...
Jump to… In the span of one week, two Prevent Learning Reviews have been published: the first in relation to Axel Rudakubana who killed 3 young girls in Southport in 2024; and the second in relation to Ali Harbi Ali who killed the MP...
Jump to… The political framing of the Southport atrocity as a Prevent failure ignores the counter-terrorism mechanisms beyond the Prevent framework. Following the revelation that Axel Rudakubana was referred to Prevent three times...
A summary of our submission to the UN outlining how Prevent makes school an unsafe space especially for targeted children, with serious implications for children’s well-being. This submission addresses how Prevent undermines the right to...
Each time tragedy strikes, a predictable script unfolds: politicians stand before the cameras, blaming the toxic Prevent strategy for the atrocity, while presenting it as the solution to protect us against the next. This is part of a...
Prevent Watch Director Layla Aitlhadj draws out the real implications of the latest Home Office statistics in relation to the Prevent strategy – here are three important things the latest referrals numbers tell us. Each year the Home...
Legal guidance compels the Prevent duty in Scotland so public authorities must implement the policy. A closer look at key differences in their approach provides insights for action and directs us to the organisations resisting the Prevent...