‘Responding to Risks’: Researching Extreme Misogyny, Policy, and the Experiences of Secondary School Teachers

• In Event: Gender, Crime and Justice Working Group Panel 11: Young people - gender and GBV

Abstract

Several recent high-profile occurrences of misogynistic and involuntary celibacy (or Incel) extremism have captured popular and media attention. Anecdotal evidence suggests that teachers and schools are seeing an increase in extreme misogyny in their settings, but despite this, there is little understanding of policy guidance as to how to respond to this issue and the contours of the space remain poorly understood.

In the context of frontline professionals working in secondary education – the space arguably most impacted by misogynistic extremism - this lacuna has significant consequences. Little work has been done to understand both the extent to which schools have a responsibility to respond to the issue, and their efforts to do so. To address this gap, this paper presents the results of an analysis of national policies with the aim of better understanding where schools’ legal requirements to respond to extreme misogyny sit, and the avenue through which they should address the issue. It will then present the findings of policy analysis from case study schools to determine how national policies are enacted on the frontline. This will form part of the author’s PhD research project aimed at assessing how schools understand and respond to extreme misogyny, with a view to piloting and developing interventions that will enable educators to better identify and respond to the threat of violence from pertinent groups.

Author

• Lizzie Mansell, Liverpool Hope University