Check out this new article by Paul Gill, Zoe Marchment, Amber Seaward and Caitlin Clemmow, which examines a question with growing relevance for counter terrorism and violence prevention: what is the relationship between domestic abuse and violent extremism?
The study brings together existing evidence to understand whether domestic abuse and violent extremism overlap, how common this overlap is, and what might explain it. Importantly, it considers domestic abuse from several perspectives, including perpetrating abuse, experiencing abuse as a victim, and witnessing abuse in the home.
The authors conducted a systematic review and meta analysis, identifying 61 studies from academic research and grey literature. The review covered different forms of violent extremism and different forms of domestic abuse. Where enough comparable studies were available, the researchers used meta analysis to calculate pooled estimates, combining evidence across studies rather than relying on individual cases or datasets.
The results show that domestic abuse is common among people involved in violent extremism, but it is far from universal. Around one third, 34.5%, had perpetrated intimate partner violence. Around 16.6% had perpetrated domestic abuse when measured more generally. Among those studied, 25.8% had experienced parental or family violence, while 12.5% had experienced sexual abuse. Almost four in five, 78.3%, had experienced at least one adverse childhood experience. Around one quarter had witnessed intimate partner violence.
But these figures need to be interpreted carefully. Results varied substantially between studies, ideologies, genders and types of data. Comparisons with other violent offenders were also mixed. Most importantly, the available evidence shows an association, not that domestic abuse causes violent extremism.
The review identifies two possible explanations for the overlap. For some people, domestic abuse and extremist violence may form part of a broader pattern of violence, coercion and control. For others, experiences of abuse and childhood trauma may contribute to vulnerabilities that, when combined with factors such as isolation, instability or exposure to extremist networks, can increase susceptibility to extremist narratives. These are possible pathways, not deterministic processes.
The policy implications are important. Domestic abuse should not be treated as a predictor of violent extremism. Instead, relevant domestic abuse histories should be considered within extremism casework, while extremist risk may also be relevant to domestic abuse safeguarding. This supports better information sharing across services and, where appropriate, trauma informed and violence prevention approaches. It also means interventions should respond to the individual case rather than assuming that domestic abuse indicates a pathway towards extremism.