Sydney mall and church stabbings 'vastly different', public should refrain from speculation: Experts

SINGAPORE: The two stabbings that recently took place over three days in Sydney were very different events, experts told CNA, with one attacker seemingly targeting women while the other was driven by suspected religious extremism.

The experts also delved into issues surrounding misogynistic ideology, the “incel” culture and mental illness in Australia, while cautioning against speculation about the incidents.

Last Saturday afternoon (Apr 13), a 40-year-old knifeman went on a bloody rampage through a Bondi shopping centre. Joel Cauchi killed six people and injured at least 12 others, including a baby, before he was shot dead by a policewoman.

Australian police said on Monday that Cauchi, who had a history of mental health issues, may have targeted women. Most of the deceased and wounded were female.

On Monday, the city again reeled from another major knife attack – this time during a livestreamed service at an Assyrian church. At least four people were wounded, including a bishop, and a 16-year-old male suspect has been arrested.

Australian police have deemed it a terrorist act motivated by religious motivated extremism, with the suspect appearing to have acted alone.

“VERY DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES”

Questions need to be asked about whether the second attack was a copycat crime, said Dr Samara McPhedran, Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Queensland’s School of Law.

“In this case, though, it appears that there's no connection at all between the two incidents, and that it's simply coincidental timing,” she told CNA938, noting that Cauchi’s crime was potentially related to his untreated schizophrenia.

“It's really important to bear in mind that the two incidents are very, very different. They have very different circumstances,” Dr McPhedran added.

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Bond University, Dr Terry Goldsworthy, similarly told CNA’s Asia Now that both were “vastly different events” and that Cauchi’s motivation “is still being determined to some degree”.

“There could be a number of explanations … It could be that he was driven by the fact that he just didn’t like women, or it could have been the fact that he thought perhaps women would be less able to resist his attacks,” he said.

Cauchi’s father had told reporters that he believed his son primarily attacked women because "he wanted a girlfriend, he's got no social skills and he was frustrated".

“INCEL” IDEOLOGY

Dr John Coyne, head of strategic policing and law enforcement at Australia Strategic Policy Institute, pointed out that no conclusive link has been drawn between the shopping centre attack and “incel” ideology – a phenomenon that some have raised concerns about after the fatal stabbing.

Incels, short for involuntary celibates, are an online subculture of people – typically men – who are often associated with deep resentment towards women.

What was once right-wing extremism has evolved into a range of different belief systems, one of which relates to incels, Dr Coyne said.

He noted that within the movement, incels think they are entitled to have a female partner and have sex. When they cannot establish this sort of relationship, it causes a deep-seated hatred of women.

“Most misogynists and most incels don't commit violence. But certainly, there is evidence globally of a connection between these sorts of people and an encouragement of violence against women,” he added.

Dr Coyne said that in the past, “strong indications” have emerged of links between incel ideology and the murders or attempted murders of women in Australia, but the police often do not look at the underlying belief systems. This is why cases related to misogynistic ideology have been relatively low in the country.

He further noted an “alarming trend in domestic violence” over the last several years, where women have been killed by their partners or former partners.

While that is very much a law enforcement issue, Dr Coyne noted that misogynistic behaviour – including sexual discrimination and hate speech – is a social cohesion issue. Because of this, he said Australia needs to take a broad whole-of-society approach to this challenge.

Dr Goldsworthy pointed out that the country is at a 34-year low in terms of homicide rates, and that the police will likely interview hundreds of witnesses as well as look at Cauchi’s history over the next month.

“The investigation will be looking at how could this (have been) prevented? It's going to be very difficult when you have a random act like this,” he added.

PUBLIC SHOULD NOT SPECULATE

As for the church attack, Dr McPhedran addressed a question of why it was classified as terrorism. This generally happens when an incident has a religious, political or ideological motive, she said.

The church service, and as a result the attack, was being livestreamed. Dr McPhedran said that while there have been cases of people using social media to promote their crimes or gain notoriety for themselves, the circumstances of this particular case “seem quite different”.

She stressed the importance of not speculating about either incident, given that not many details have emerged.

“It’s very early so people are still very shocked, very frightened, anxious. Families, of course, are just starting to grieve for their loved ones,” Dr McPhedran added.

Those struggling to come to terms with what happened should seek counselling or talk to someone, such as family, friends or elders within a faith community, she said.

“There's certainly some tension in Western Sydney and that's raising concerns in itself, but faith communities have come up very strongly and said that violence is never acceptable … Something that we do need to focus on is not so much how these incidents occurred, but why,” she added.

“Whenever a homicide occurs, it's absolutely crucial to look at the offender or offenders in a whole-of-life perspective and to remember that they’re human beings, and to try and understand what may have led them to commit those acts. So it's a very complex picture.”