Arabic version: بيانات الشرطة الفيدرالية الأسترالية تسلط الضوء على مخاطر متغيرة لتطرف الشباب
According to ABC News, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett has presented internal analysis of 55 youth extremism cases involving children aged 12 to 17, warning that teenage boys are being radicalised online. All subjects in the cohort were male and all were radicalised wholly or partly online.
Violent jihadism was the most prevalent belief system in the cases, followed by anti-authority and white supremacist ideologies. Barrett said more young people now showed mixed, unclear or incoherent ideologies, superficial understanding of ideologies, and ideological fluidity. She said there was no single profile of a radicalised young person or one pathway to violent extremism.
The analysis challenged assumptions that youth extremism is limited to unstable homes. More than one-quarter of the cohort did not have a stable male role model and about one-third had witnessed or experienced violence from caregivers, but some cases involved a secure bond with one or both caregivers. Barrett said children from stable family environments with few vulnerabilities were also being radicalised and manipulated.
Among identified warning signs, 13 per cent of the young people had been suspended or expelled in primary school, while more than one-third had been removed from high school. In three out of five cases, youths had received support, treatment or intervention for a mental health condition. Barrett said she hoped the study would help police and policymakers intervene earlier to prevent youth offending.
Barrett also told Senate Estimates that the AFP handled nearly 800 protective-security reports targeting parliamentarians in the first six months of the year. Female parliamentarians were three times more likely than male colleagues to receive sexualised or gender-based threats. She said she would raise politician security at an upcoming meeting with state and territory police commissioners and would implement more consistent officer training.
