Is the rise of Involuntary Celibacy Extremism a threat to the safety of the United Kingdom?

Abstract

This paper will examine whether Involuntary Celibacy extremism is a threat to the United Kingdom. The word ‘incel’ refers to a person who identifies as involuntarily celibate, who is unable to form intimate and sexual relationships. Many are predominantly young males, around 18 to 30 years old, and in the past twenty years, the community has seen a huge rise. The incel community has also began to advocate an increasingly violent misogynistic ideology, where blame is placed on women and society for their inability to form a romantic relationship. The number of deadly attacks with the perpetrator either having strong links to the incel community or has openly claimed the attack for the incel community have increased. Research has also risen, examining why people turn to the incel community and how these people become radicalised. Many findings demonstrate that negative mental health patterns have a huge impact on turning men to this community. In addition to this, the reach of social media is allowing these people to connect and spread the incel ideology. There is clinical research that tells us that these community members have difficulties in social settings and forming relationships; this is then worsened by the changing dynamics of contemporary society. There is clear evidence highlighted that the factors that turn people towards the incel ideology is on the rise, so it can be recognised that it is likely to see significant growth in the coming years. Countries across the world are reacting, but this is still in its early phase, and a better understanding of the community and its threat is needed if this is to be managed moving forward. There are comparisons between the international community and the UK in how governments are responding to this threat within this research project. International cooperation will be valuable to share and learn good practice when preventing the threat of extremism by the incel community.

The paper will assess the current and future risk to the United Kingdom (UK) posed by incel extremism. It will explore current understanding of individual incel personality traits, their communities and the developing ideologies through analysis of research journals, predominantly produced in western society. The research will delve into the factors that lead a person to become an incel and what may drive the growth of this ideology in the future.