Date: April 2015
Gender: Female
Location: Greater London
HH was a social sciences student based in London. HH was studying in the library, writing an essay on radicalisation. A lecturer at the university saw HH with two books on the topic of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which HH had been reading in the course of writing her essay. The two books in question are two of the foremost pieces of work in the area of study and it would be necessary for any student to use the book when writing an essay on radicalisation in which ISIS was discussed.
The lecturer’s reaction at HH carrying the books was to remark “Oh! Don’t go joining ISIS will you?” HH’s reaction was one of shock, and this was abundantly evident to the lecturer. The lecturer said that she was “joking”. Later on in the day, a friend of HH’s attended a class which the same lecturer was teaching. At the end of the class, HH’s friend asked the lecturer a question. The lecturer crassly remarked to HH’s friend “if you need someone to read your essay for you, why don’t you ask the Islamic State girl?”
HH felt that labelling someone as such could be detrimental to her studies and her future career. This was especially in the context of the recent passing of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act [2015], where there universities have a due regard to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.
HH’s case displays the climate in which the implementation of PREVENT is taking place. Individuals are being targeted due to their apparent religious background. This will invariably lead to the over reporting of individuals to PREVENT based on prejudices and misconceptions.
