Prevent is about keeping people and communities safe from the threat of terrorism. It is one part of the government's overall counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST.
The objectives of Prevent are: to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism, to intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation and to enable people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.
"It was such a shock obviously when it happened. When people talk about Rasheed they always say that he was the last person that they ever would have thought would have gone down that path"
Nicola, whose son Rasheed went to Syria to fight with Daesh and was tragically killed months later
"Prevent called some Inman and they gave him some activities to my son and they visit places. They are happy to do the activites and he get a big change"
Zainab's son was referred to Prevent when teachers became concerned after he drew violent images and Daesh logo's in class and admitted researching terrorism online.
John was often in trouble at school for low level disruption and felt he was being left behind. When a friend told him he was going to a right wing group meeting, John went along to support him. He was soon invited to join closed Facebook groups and started sharing extreme right wing posts on social media and attending rallies. After inviting a teacher along to an extremist rally he was referred to the Prevent programme by his college. He was appointed a specialist mentor (also known as an Intervention Provider) who helped increase Johns self-confidence and he realised he wanted to make some changes in his life. With this help and support he was able to move away from extremism.
Micheal’s brother Thomas was a normal teenager who enjoyed going to the pub and worked as an electrician. He became interested in Islam at the age of 19 and gradually started to change. He insisted on using his own pans to cook and becoming angry at his mother or brother for watching TV and listening to music. He changed his name and his appearance and lost his apprenticeship after repeatedly expressing extremist views at work. He travelled abroad telling his mother he was going to study Arabic, but the following year called to say he had joined a terrorist group. Shortly after, he was killed which devastated his mother and brother.
Mustafa was a follower of multiple radical clerics and expressed and promoted extreme views. He is now a spoken word artist working within the non-governmental organisation sector as a trainer, facilitator and creator of counter-extremism expertise.