'I infiltrated incel group after city massacre'

A PLYMOUTH woman infiltrated a group of incel men - short for involuntarily celibate - and has written a book about what she found out.

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

Katherine Denkinson and, inset, her book

(WILLIAM TELFORD)

Journalist Katherine Denkinson joined an online incel forum which had more than 40,000 members from around the world.

Because members were allowed to remain anonymous they had no idea she was a woman.

But she discovered that most of the men on the forum were not necessarily women haters, or had extreme right wing leanings, but were instead “lost and lonely”.

However, she did discover some worrying misogyny and homophobia and said young men are at risk of being sucked into extreme beliefs as they look for somewhere to belong.

Katherine has documented her research, gleaned from seven years of investigative work and interviews with incel men, in the newly published book Incel: The Weaponization of Misogyny.

The book, from River Light Press, is described as a “must read for all those uncertain about what the continuous spread of incel values and ideologies might mean.”

It also looks at what can be done to “negate the very real, physical and psychological harm these online groups continue to perpetuate”.

Incels are described as members of an online community of young men who consider themselves unable to attract women and are associated with hostility against women.

Katherine said: “Their views are abhorrent and their behaviour sometimes lethal, but if we are to prevent further violence then the existence of incels needs to be fully understood as more than just the rantings of ‘angry little men in the basement’.