Preventing Violent Extremism: Children ́s Perspectives, Policy and Practice

In recent years, Europe and the United States have experienced a revival of militant right-wing extremist groups, networks, and incidents, with a surge of anti-immigration and Islamophobic violence, as well as anti-government attacks and assaults on political opponents, ethnic minorities, and the LGBTQ Community. While this is not a new phenomenon, with a 320% increase in attacks conducted by individuals affiliated with such movements and ideologies over the past five years, as it was reported by the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate Trends Alerts, its current manifestation and scale heighten a sense of insecurity, alarmism and the urgency of designing and implementing comprehensive responses to effectively curb its growing frequency, and lethality. In the pursuit of politically motivated aims, right-wing extremist, drawing on international networks, ideas and personalities continue to mobilize others and demonstrate an exceptional capacity to spread propaganda, magnify their message and ultimately outreach and recruit children and youth. The demographic of supporters of white supremacist, national socialist, neo-Nazi and other related groups embracing similar ideologies is increasingly young. The rising tide of right-wing extremism and its leverage on youth calls for an identification of the factors driving youth radicalization as well as pathways to effectively support their disengagement.   

Guest Speaker  

Mr. Robert Örell, EU RAN Steering Committee