Islamophobia Archives - Prevent Watch

Court finds direct discrimination in school’s Prevent referral of Muslim boy

Prevent Watch supported the mother in a stressful period during this case in which Cloisters’ Fred Holker successfully represented the Claimant who, at the age of 13, was the subject of a Prevent referral by a teacher following a playground incident. Fred acted for the Claimant pro bono at trial in the County Court against the education trust, securing findings of direct religion discrimination contrary to ss 10 and 13 Equality Act 2010. The successful claim had been pleaded by Cloisters’ Ameer Ismail, also on a pro bono basis. The Claimant was accused of playground misbehaviour in 2021 which led teachers to form a concern of possible Islamist radicalisation. The Court analysed the manner in which the referral was made, concluding that the teacher had cast the Claimant in terms suffused with religious and violent overtones that went beyond the facts established by an internal investigation. The Court found that […]

28 August 202631 August 2026 By Senior Editor

Picture for article on pre-crime policies of a man wearing a Muslim energy shirt

Like Prevent, pre-crime policies used in the past created the notion of ‘thought crime’

Pre-crime policies in Japan and Russia prior to World War 2 reveal uncanny similarities to the UK’s Prevent strategy and relied on the same social elements to be acceptable. By Zara W. Tahir The Prevent strategy has often been referred to as a ‘pre-crime’ strategy. Pre-crime is defined as a grey area where a crime has not yet occurred, and yet is implicitly understood to possibly occur. Its origins lie in science fiction. A study by Lucia Zedner at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies states that pre-crime, “… has a tendency to validate developments that ought properly to be subject to intense debate. It licences changes in procedural arrangements, as well as in substantive law, that erode civil liberties and permit intrusive coercive measures to be imposed ahead of wrongdoing.” People express surprise that such a policy has arisen in the UK. But Prevent is not without precedent […]

8 September 20258 September 2025 By Senior Editor

picture of secondary school class in story about birmingham trojan horse affair racism and prevent duty uk

Latest Expert Views

‘Fear of being called racist’ and the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair: The Racist Politics of Muslim Integration

The “fear of being called racist” during the Birmingham Trojan Horse Affair did not stop the DfE acting by introducing the Prevent duty in 2015. Around the same time, the first reports on group-based sexual exploitation of children were received by the DfE – and it failed to act. Now, a “fear of being called racist” is being used as their excuse – does this fear even exist, or are deeper racist politics at play? There has been a steady drumbeat, in right-wing and liberal media alike, about the failure of British Muslims to integrate. This drumbeat warns of self-segregated lives insulated from mainstream values. This is often fed by official reports that are occasioned by media ‘scares’ and used to align public policy with media-driven concerns highlighting threats to public safety. Among the most potent of such concerns are those involving children and young people. On the one hand, […]

1 September 2025 By Senior Editor

line of uk riot police at 2022 unrest in leicester

Islam Channel: Report blames Hindutva extremism and policy failures for 2022 unrest in Leicester

A new community-led investigation into the 2022 unrest in Leicester has concluded that imported Hindutva extremism, systemic Islamophobia, and policy failures were key drivers behind the violence that rocked one of Britain’s most diverse cities. The report — Community Tensions, Hindutva, and Islamophobia Leicester City: A Case Study — is jointly authored by the UK Indian Muslim Council (UKIMC) and the Community Policy Forum and is the first independent inquiry into the events. Leicester was thrust into the national spotlight in September 2022 when street battles erupted. The unrest lasted several days, spreading briefly to nearby Birmingham, before it subsided. Drawing on testimony from nearly 500 Muslim residents collected between 2023 and 2024, the study challenges official narratives that portrayed the unrest as a symmetrical clash between Hindu and Muslim groups. Instead, it describes the violence as the culmination of years of provocation, with respondents attributing this escalation to the […]

18 August 202518 August 2025 By Senior Editor

Latest Expert Views Previous Events

Prevent Watch reports back from Northern Race Equality Conference

On the 9th of April Prevent Watch was invited by Race Equality Network and Ella Baker School to deliver a workshop at the Northern Race Equality Conference held in Bradford. The event brought together a wide range of organisations, academics, and practitioners committed to addressing structural racism across the UK. Prevent policy reinforces structural racism The inclusion of Prevent in this forum reflected a growing consensus that the Prevent duty has entrenched racial inequality in public services. The fact that this conference was held in the North of England is of particular relevance given the long history of anti-racist organising in the region, from community resistance to the National Front in the 1970s and 80s, to the landmark Bradford 12 trial in 1982, when a group of young Asian men were acquitted of preparing petrol bombs in self-defence against racist violence. Northern cities like Bradford, Manchester and Sheffield, which are […]

22 April 202522 April 2025 By Senior Editor

Community Resources Statements

Our submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Our final submission to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) can be found on the official submission site here. It outlines how the Prevent counter-extremism strategy violates the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 2106, and urges the UN to recommend that the UK government withdraw Prevent from the sectors of education and health. Together with our client testimonies, this document contributed to the CERD recommending that the UK government suspend Prevent. The Word.doc format as it was sent to the CERD in 2024 can be downloaded it by clicking the link below. Prevent Watch Final Submission to the CERD

11 April 20259 July 2025 By Senior Editor

Title page for Runnymede report entitled Islamophobia: the intensification of racism against Muslim communities in the UK

Community Resources Health Resources Reports

Runnymede Trust: Islamophobia – the intensification of racism against Muslim communities in the UK

Islamophobia: the intensification of racism against Muslim communities in the UK shows that Islamophobia is growing in the UK, and highlights its structural nature across British society. Islamophobia in the UK has deep roots that manifest in many forms. The sense that Muslim people are a threat to Britain has become overt and direct. Whether it is politicians speaking from the benches in parliament, or mainstream headlines screaming about ‘Islamist extremists’ when describing peaceful protestors, Islamophobia has reached fever pitch in the UK. These narratives have cast British Muslims as ‘outsiders’ with foreign loyalties, as a menace to society. It is time that we put a rational conversation back on the agenda. This report is an opportunity to understand both the nature and breadth of Islamophobia in the UK, with the scope to build anti-racist solidarities as an outcome, to eradicate its existence. It features a chapter by Prevent Watch […]

30 November 202418 March 2026 By Senior Editor

Parliamentary Work Previous Events

Launch of Runnymede report on Islamophobia in the UK: Westminster

18 November 2024: Dr Layla Aitlhadj presented the chapter that she authored at the launch of the final report by Runnymede entitled Islamophobia: the Intensification of Racism against Muslim Communities in the UK. The report was launched on the same day at Parliament in Westminster. To arrange a talk by Prevent Watch on this topic or any other, please fill in the form at the bottom of this page.

18 November 202415 June 2026 By Senior Editor

RSI: New data on the Prevent strategy raises racism concerns

New police data on the race of people referred to Prevent prompts fears that schools and the public sector in England and Wales are reporting people as potential ‘extremists’ due to racial bias.

1 October 20242 September 2025 By Senior Editor

Sec Ed: Is the Prevent duty in education fit for purpose?

The long-term presence of the Prevent duty in education in the UK has meant that there has been an increase of 16% for referrals of young people and children, year-on-year, but disturbing cases of students being persecuted for legitimate protest or making flippant remarks raise fears that deep prejudice has infected the government’s anti-terrorism strategy, writes Peter Radford.

17 May 20243 September 2025 By Senior Editor

Islamophobia