News
PRESS RESOURCES
WELCOME
Our press resources include biographies of some of our prominent members, a press-summary of the People’s Review of Prevent (2022), as well as the full report, and other helpful links for journalists, researchers or academics concerned with the Prevent Duty or counter-extremism more broadly.
If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, please visit our Home and About pages.
PROFILES
Dr Layla Aitlhadj
Dr Layla Aitlhadj is the Director and Senior Caseworker at Prevent Watch where she supports people adversely impacted by the Prevent Duty, and has led on the support, litigation and advocacy work of close to 600 cases.
Layla has published extensively on Prevent and the broader implications of counter-terrorism legislation across multiple platforms including community, professional and independent outlets. She has edited lengthier academic reports and led more in-depth advocacy-based research.
Internationally, she has also contributed to and co-ordinated submissions to the International Court of Justice, and the European Security Conference on the human rights violations inherent in counter-extremism policies and programmes.
Professor John Holmwood
John Holmwood is Professor Emeritus in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham.
John was formerly the Chair of the Council of UK Heads and Professors of Sociology (2007–2012), and President of the British Sociological Association (2012–2014). John is also the editor (with Alex Smith) of Sociologies of Moderation: Problems of Democracy, Expertise and Media (Sociological Review Monographs, 2013).
John played a key role at a crucial turning point in the development of the Prevent duty. He co-authored with Theresa O’Toole the book Countering Extremism in British Schools? The Truth about the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair (Policy Press, 2018). He was also an expert witness for the defence in professional misconduct cases brought against the teachers, who were exonerated.
Professor Alison Scott Baumann
Alison Scott-Baumann is Professor of Society and Belief in the Centre of Islamic Studies in the Near and Middle East Department at SOAS, and is best known for her ongoing work on Islam in Britain that dates back to 1997. She has been consulted by government (2007 Siddiqui Report; 2008-10 Review of imam training) and has received HEA funding on several occasions.
In 2015 AHRC awarded Alison a major three year grant to research Re/presenting Islam on Campus at SOAS, which led to the report Islam and Muslims on Campus: Perceptions and Challenges (2020).
Alison is a Visiting Researcher in the Politics, Philosophy and Religion Department at Lancaster University and a Visiting Researcher at VU Amsterdam University in the Centre for Islamic Theology.
REPORTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Here’s a quick glance at the People’s Review of Prevent for journalists and researchers new to this subject. It is also a foundational read for those who are encountering Prevent on an individual or systemic level, and it will take you through:
- The People’s Review of Prevent in Numbers
- Why is there a People’s Review of Prevent?
- The Prevent Duty Explained
- The People’s Review and the Case Against Prevent
THE PEOPLE’S REVIEW OF PREVENT
The only case-based, on-the-ground documentation of the harms of Prevent that combines real human accounts of how the counter-extremism approach has truly impacted people’s lives, with a thorough sociologically-based review of the academic literature available on the subject, the 2022 People’s Review of Prevent is available to read online and to download and print.
It is an invaluable resource for those seeking to balance reports by pro-Prevent think tanks and organisations who have stood to profit by advocating Prevent in the UK. It’s also important reading for those concerned with counter-extremism policies and their impact globally, since Prevent is often sanitised and used as a ‘flagship’ programme for CVE.
INTERVIEWS
If you’d like to arrange an interview with Layla or John, please write an email to our press liaison at contact@preventwatch.org.
We are aware that journalists seek interviews with individuals impacted by Prevent to strengthen their reportage. This can be delicate, as some are involved in litigation, while others fear that their situation will get worse if they speak to the media, or they are wary of the stigma that comes with Prevent. Many involve children and families. From time to time, however, we do have cases who are available for interviews. Please contact@preventwatch.org with your requests, and we will consider them carefully.
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