Introduction
This is a short web quest on the topic of law and INCEL ideology, based on a training by Judicial Education Network on an identical topic.
The key issue:
Ideology and Violence: Should The Incels Be Charged with Terrorism or May Such Approach Make Matters Worse
Task
1) Discuss how much you know about INCELS and their ideology
2) Read the facts of the Canadian case
3) Research the EU Report on INCELS in EU
4) Discuss your national law provisions defining the criminal offence of terrorism and decide what are the key elements to be satisfied, what the deed would have to look like to meet such criteria and what would be needed to establish the intent before the court of law in your country.
Process
Read and discuss
THE FACTS OF THE CASE:
In late February 2020, a 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly stabbing two women at a massage parlour in Toronto’s north end.
One woman died and the other was seriously wounded in the attack. The accused was initially charged with first degree murder and attempted murder under the Criminal Code.
When investigation into the accused’s social media presence revealed that the attack may have been inspired by the misogynist “incel” ideology, prosecutors modified the charges to include “terrorist” designations.
Incels -short for “involuntary celibates” – are men who feel they deserve sex from women, but who cannot attract them and so become deeply angry. Whereas this frustration has led to violence on numerous occasions, THE CHARGES IN THE CASE AT HAND represent two important firsts:
- the first time incel violence has been formally charged as terrorism, and
- the first time Canada’s anti-terrorism laws have been used against an accused who was not alleged to be linked to Islamic terror groups.
CHECK OUT THIS DOCUMENT and discuss how it applies to the case and compare to the laws in your country
also GO to this website: https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2021-10/ran_incels_first_scan_of_phenomen_and_relevance_challenges_for_p-cve_202110_en.pdf
GO TO PAGE 8 and read about the INCEL Extremist Groups in EU and discuss if and how terrorism laws would apply to members of these groups.
Evaluation
Do you think you have acquired any new law related input or discuss questions on legal topics?
Could a larger quest be prepared to administer legal training for criminal judges and prosecutors on how to assess, test and handle Incel ideology in the context of penal law?
Could a small team of a methodologist and a legal trainer use this platform to create both synchronous and asynchronous input for such training?
Conclusion
How engaged do you think the trainees will be in to kind of activity as oppose to a lecture?
What do you see as possible advantages of working with such interactive online engagement platform?
How and why is use of authentic materials relevant?
What would be the advantages and what disadvantages of such platform used for the purposes of legal training?
Could you use brainstorming for legal training - if so how?
Credits
We engaged in
- researching a Canadian case of Incel
- discussion of charging Incel ideology based crimes as terrorism
- researching a Canadian expert opinion on the topic
- comparative analysis of your national laws and their applicability to the matter
- discussion how to create engaging and interactive online and offline usable asynchronous content which can be used in synchronous training as well.