Prevent in Communities
These resources and cases advocate against the use of Prevent in communities such as among people in aid organisations and charities, dissenting groups, or in mosques and community centres.
“A person converting to Islam, a desire to go on pilgrimage, a beard, a headscarf, the notion of reward and sin, legitimate political grievances and so on are all ‘markers’ of ‘extremism’ and thus linked to violence … Imagine the kippah, a crucifix pendant, a bindi or any other marker of faith being frequently discussed in the context of terrorism.”
Cases in the Community
Prevent started as being targeted at the Muslim community – now it has expanded to include charities and aid groups, as well as dissenters who challenge aspects of democracy.
Whether you work in a community organisation, or are linked to a charity or aid group, or even if you serve a mosque, these resources and cases illustrate you are not alone.
We argue in our expert views that, among other things, the latest Home Office statistics on Prevent prove that the best alternative to Prevent is no Prevent.
Prevent’s harms run right to the core of governance and society, trampling on hard-won rights including freedom of speech and association, the right to practice one’s religion safely, and the right to challenge the government through civil action.
Prevent functions as a vast data collection mechanism in the communities it targets, and we have supported people in having their data removed from lists.
There are ways to challenge Prevent, depending on your situation, and we can support you to do so.
This 2015 report revealing how Muslims are being ‘governed through Prevent’’ shows how the ‘pre-crime’ approach at the core of Prevent provides the state with a means separate from due process to rule communities it alone defines as ‘suspect’.
The UN has criticised Prevent from 2018 up to the present especially about its data collection methods, its ‘chilling effect’ on speech, advocacy and association, and about its harms to children and its potential to discriminate against groups.
“The Prevent trainer put up pictures of images … of symbols of Black Lives Matter and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. We were told that we should take photos if we saw these symbols and send them to Prevent, and that we should be their ‘eyes and the ears’.
Expert Views
Why is Prevent harmful in the community?
The presence of Prevent exerts a threat over community affairs and legal activism. The Prevent environment can scare off funders and even halt events, some of which are aimed at raising money for people in need.
Traditionally, in the Muslim community, our community centres and mosques have always been places of safety where different views may be exchanged and naturally moderated by teachers and peers.
We believe that in a healthy society, religion and the broader public civic space should be left to function in the same way with respect between diverse views that would build resilience organically.
Instead, Prevent harms the UK’s diverse communities because:
- It causes people in targeted groups to self-censor their religious and/os political identity
- Its surveillance role causes young people to ‘bottle up’ which is deeply counter-productive
- It creates divisions and enmity between diverse groups by enforcing a narrow and divisive state narrative
- It presents a criminal lens over legal community activity that naturally moderates extreme views
Helpful Resources
