The Anti-Women Movement: Incels, Misogyny and the Threat to the West Coast

Abstract

Individuals identifying as “incels” can be linked to previous acts of violence, circa 1989 until the present. Moreover, the historical frequency of incel related incidents has arguably increased. Incels are men who are self-described as being “involuntary celibates” who believe they have a privileged entitlement to sex from women, possibly based on tenets from the “Male Supremacy” ideology (Male supremacy as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (n.d.), is a hateful ideology advocating for the subjugation of women). Kinetic misogynistic attacks have not been characterized by known physical indicators/behaviour patterns. Most of the relevant recognisable indicators are identified post incident and occur in the form of communication taking place over social media (such as reddit). Furthermore, it is currently unknown if incels may have infiltrated legitimate men's groups, for the purpose of recruiting sympathizers. This briefing concludes by making recommendations related to policy and law enforcement to address this potential threat.