Large rise in men referred to Prevent over women-hating incel ideology

The Keyham area of Plymouth, Devon, where five people were killed by gunman Jake Davison. He had viewed incel websites before the crime. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

There has been a large rise in the number of young men referred to the government’s Prevent scheme over the women-hating “incel” ideology, official statistics have shown.

A senior counter-terrorism officer described incel as an “emerging risk” making up 1% of all referrals to the anti-extremism scheme in the year to March 2022 – 77 cases – triggered by concerns that mainly young men were falling for its message.