
Expert View: Manchester Arena Inquiry undermines Shawcross report
The Manchester Arena Inquiry undermines the Shawcross’s attempts to shunt Muslim-led civil society groups into the same frame as terrorism.
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Prevent Cases
T-Shirt Case
Sector: Education (t-shirt) Date: February 2016 Gender: Male Location: Greater London MK was 8 years old in year 4 at a primary school in London. MK had worn a t-shirt which read “when I grow up I want to be like…” on the front and “Abu Bakr as-Siddique 1” on the back. He had worn this t-shirt on a number of occasions before. MK happened to have worn this t-shirt on the anniversary of the 7/7 bombings while on a school trip to the Princess Diana Memorial Park in central London. The Deputy Head Teacher was quoted as saying the t-shirt was “inappropriate” to wear and MK was requested to take the t-shirt off and wore his hoody throughout the day. The mother of MK recalls how the incident was realised: Later that afternoon after school I had noticed my son in this hooded cardigan and told him to take

The “terrorist house” Case
prevent, terrorist house Sector: Education Date: February 2016 Gender: Male Location: Greater London Raheem, a 10 year old boy, was asked to make up a fictional character as part of an English lesson. To help develop the fictional character the teacher had asked the children to respond to some specific questions about the character, the following two are significant. Raheem named his piece ‘Cheeky Charlie’ and responded in the following way: What makes you feel gloomy or down-in-the-dumps? I hate it when my uncle hits me. What sort of place do you live in? I live in a terrorist house with my uncle. (Source: Original Writing of 10 Year Old Boy) Raheem and family have been interviewed and provided some startling insights into what happened: the next day a Social Worker and a Police Officer visited his home He had watched a movie where the uncle hits the boy the police asked about terrorism the police
NHS Administrator
Date: January 2015 Gender: Male Location: Central London ZX (NHS Administrator) was put in touch with Prevent Watch as he was concerned about PREVENT training he received whilst working as an Administrator at the NHS. ZX is a British national, 28 years of age and currently working as an Administrator for the NHS. ZX has been working there for the past two years and thoroughly enjoys the work. However, whilst receiving adult-vulnerability training on safeguarding, ZX said he was trained on a section directly on Prevent and signs of radicalisation. He had concerns about this, and wanted to know whether this was lawful or unlawful in relation to implementation of the policy. ZX made clear that it was a small section, but found it absurd that radicalisation would be trained for all NHS staff. ZX explained that “out of nowhere, we were all trained on a small section of PREVENT”. This included referring patients
The Community Organisation
Date: November 2014 Location: Greater London IE is a grassroots community organisation which seeks social and spiritual renewal. Through the Islamic ethos enshrined within the organisation, members of IE are obliged to be full and active participants in society in order to benefit their local community. The organisation has affiliates throughout the United Kingdom. IE has been negatively impacted through the application of the PREVENT duty by the local authority. This has caused number problems for IE when they have organised events. A number of their events have been cancelled or revised because of the pressure applied by PREVENT officers to venue operators. During an event at a university in Greater London, IE were due to host a number of speakers. The university cancelled the event on the grounds that they were “Islamists” after pressure from the local authority. However, IE were not provided any reasonable reasons as to why

The Cucumber Case
cucumber, prevent Date: January 2016 Gender: Male Location: South East AQ is 4 years old and attends a nursery part time. As part of the class work AQ had drawn a number of pictures which were of concern to the teachers. Two of the pictures were not discernible and amounted to nothing more than shapes scribbles. These pictures were drawn in Autumn 2015. Another picture was a stick man holding a large knife alongside a scribble which was drawn in early 2016. When asked about this picture, the child said it was his father cutting a “cucumber”, which the child had mispronounced as “cooker bum.” However, the nursery staff wrongly asserted that he said “cooker bomb.” At no point did AQ use the word “bomb”, and it was the nursery staff who introduced this word to the conversation. As a result of this picture the nursery manager started the process
Teacher Suspended for Sharing an Article
Date: December 2014 Gender: Male Location: West Midlands JI is a teacher at a school in the West Midlands region. He advocated a number of political and religious ideas while in a private setting. He was subsequently suspended from his position as a teacher based on these views. There are two views which were highlighted by the school which they thought warranted suspension. Firstly, JI had posted an article by a reputable journalist on what would constitute an act of terrorism. The second view concerned whether a petition to proscribe the English Defence League should be circulated The school and the Department of Education alleged that JI had support views which are anti-Western and anti-American and had also undermined fundamental British values. JI was subsequently reinstated once an investigation had been conducted by the school There are a variety of concerns regarding the application of PREVENT in JI’s case. Firstly,
The Prevent Duty



The Prevent Duty is championed by the government as an effective strategy to prevent terrorism, however, evidence suggests this is having an adverse effect on communities. Thousands of Prevent referrals are made each year but very few of them lead to any intervention.
Prevent Watch has supported hundreds of people impacted by Prevent. Our case studies show a huge failing of the Prevent Duty. We provide a free helpline with dedicated case workers to support people impacted by the Prevent Duty. We provide access to lawyers, media, research and much more.
What we’re working on

New Report: A Response to the Shawcross Report

The People’s Review of Prevent
On 12 February 2019, the government committed to carrying out an independent review of Prevent. We explain why the Government’s review of Prevent resulted in a boycott across civic society and the resultant alternative, the People’s Review of Prevent.

The Trojan Horse Affair
The Trojan Horse Affair ensured the Prevent was embedded in legislation under the guise of safeguarding. We analyse the events that unfolded in 2014 to reveal how they impact Prevent as we know it today.
Information and Support

Newsletter
Know your rights when dealing with Prevent officers. We provide the latest here.

Ways to Support
Your commitment has been vital to assisting hundreds of families across the UK who have been impacted by Prevent.
Prevent Watch appreciates every supporter and donor who helps to keep our helpline and supporting services running. Although we have helped hundreds of individuals we know that thousands of individuals are referred to Prevent each year and we rely on your help to be able to reach every person who needs our support.
We are incredibly grateful for your ongoing support.
Dr Layla Aitlhadj
Director, Prevent Watch