“IF WE
EMPOWER
WOMEN TO
CHALLENGE
EXTREMISM,
YOU WILL
SEE A SHIFT
IN OUR
SOCIETY”On the 26th floor of Millbank Tower, 31-year-old
Nikita Malik is sitting in a meeting room
overlooking the Houses of Parliament, her dress
a welcome pop of turquoise in a world of greige.
Her job is multifaceted, but broadly it’s to sway governments,
corporations and popular opinion on the power of her
research into extremism, radicalisation and terrorism. It’s
hard to quantify her “wins”, she says (though some of her
recent work was instrumental in YouTube banning videos
that deny factual catastrophes, such as the Holocaust).
Forbes recently put her on its 30 Under 30 list of European
law and policy influencers.
Malik – who was born in India, grew up in the Middle
East and Africa, studied economics and management at
Oxford, and has previously worked at the coalface of de-
radicalisation in Jordan – was an impassioned voice in the
media storm surrounding the now “stateless” Shamima
Begum. “We have these very strong reactions when it comes
to women and what punishment they do or do not deserve,”
says Malik. “Is she a victim or is she a criminal? It’s often
neither.” She believes Begum should be allowed to return
(and face the might of the British judicial system), but is also
keen to redraw the way we imagine young women and
radicalisation. Instead of poor, uneducated girls, she says, “It
could actually be very brilliant young girls exploring ideas
on the internet about their religion, which I think most people
do when they’re trying to form their identity.”
The vulnerability, she insists, isn’t necessarily because they’re
preyed on by older extremists. “The word grooming gets used
a lot, which in my mind always involves an older man duping
a young woman. Actually, in these cases, we see groups – say,
four to nine girls – in this herd mentality, incentivising and
informing each other.” Essentially, old-fashioned peer pressure
at its most toxic. This is why youth de-radicalisation is so
fraught, Malik says, as teens are so suspicious of anyone older.
Yasmin Green has seen a similar story at Jigsaw, too.
A star figure in global anti-extremism (with the Ted Talk
to prove it), she’s been instrumental in establishing the
company’s Redirect Method. If someone is searching for
extreme material online, “it uses YouTube playlists to serve
those people with information that could change their
minds,” she says from her Manhattan office.
Her work has brought her face-to-face with those most
in danger, including a 14-year-old girl in the UK who, “had
to be taken off the plane [to Syria] in Heathrow. When we
sat down with her and her father, she said: ‘I thought I was
going to go and live in the Islamic Disney World.’” Thanksto its one-time sophistication, the Isil
online recruitment campaign meant,
“she thought she was going to find some
kind of Jihadi Brad Pitt, and then go
shopping in a mall”.
Of course, much of the material online
requires a strong stomach, something all
the women share. Of the first beheading
video she saw, Green says, “I remember
showing it to my husband and he was so
appalled. Not about the video, but that
I would show it to him. But I think it
does help. To have empathy for people
who are being preyed upon.”
The most necessary question seems
to be a practical one: in the face of so
much hate, how do they keep going?
“You know,” says Malik, “Sara and
Yasmin are both mothers, and I think
that passion keeps you going when dealing with very difficult
things. It’s this idea that, hopefully, you are making a change.”
Meanwhile, Khan stresses that every woman is key in the
fight. “If we empower women to challenge extremism, you will
see a shift in our society. Women are the backbone. They can
see if their children are being radicalised, they are often the first
to see there’s something wrong,” she says, determined but
positive in the face of the job at hand. “It’s equipping women
with the know-how where they can make a difference.” nLeft: Sara wears
poloneck, £535, Jil
Sander. Vintage earrings,
£55, Gillian Horsup.
Rings, from £1,200 each,
Completedworks. Below:
Nikita wears sweater,
£720. Skirt, £780. Both
Jacquemus. Boots, £1,290,
Gianvito Rossi. Earrings,
£4,100, Delfina Delettrez.
For stockists, all pages,
see Vogue Information.
Hair: Sophie Jane
Anderson. Make-up:
Vassilis Theotokis.
Nails: Zarra Celik.
Production: Sylvia Hong.
Digital artwork:
Big Sky Studios11-19-Well-CounterExtremism.indd 239 13/09/2019 08:05