Misogyny to be recorded as a hate crime from autumn
Police will record misogyny as a hate crime in England and Wales from the autumn, following wide scale protests about the treatment of women in the UK following the murder of Sarah Everard.
Home Office minister Baroness Williams said police forces around the country will be instructed to record cases of harassment and stalking as hate crimes where it is believed by the victim to be motivated by “hostility based on their sex”.
She pointed to an ongoing review of hate crimes laws, adding: “Once we have considered the Law Commission’s recommendations, we will shortly begin the consultation with the National Police Chiefs Council and forces on this, with a view to commencing the experimental collection of data from this autumn.”
Campaigners welcomed the move as a “game changer” that would encourage women to report public harassment.
Stella Creasy, the Labour MP who led the campaign, said the change was the first policy the government had backed that was “actually rooted in evidence of what helps to tackle violence against women”.
An investigation by UN Women UK published last week found that 97 per cent of women aged 18-24 have been sexually harassed, with a further 96 per cent not reporting incidents because they believed doing so would not change anything.
The Home Office said earlier this week that it has had 140,000 responses since its survey asking for evidence on how to combat male violence was opened last Friday.
Fawcett Society chief executive Felicia Willow said: “We are delighted that this government has accepted that misogyny should be treated as a hate crime. It’s essential that women have the confidence to report crimes and that they are taken seriously when they do.
“This is a major step forward in changing how we understand, address and prevent violence against women – and one that we hope will help change attitudes towards women.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who publicly backed the move, added: “This is a huge victory for women’s rights campaigners and a much-needed step towards a fairer society where abuse and harassment of women and girls will not be tolerated.”
Everard disappeared on 3 March while walking back to her home in Brixton, south London, after visiting a friend in nearby Clapham.
Her body was found in woodland near Ashford in Kent a week later, and was identified through dental records.
Serving Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, 48, from Deal in Kent, has been charged with her kidnap and murder.
A vigil commemorating Everard in Clapham Common on Saturday night sparked widespread condemnation after police were photographed pinning women to the ground in an attempt to disperse crowds.
The force is facing an independent inquiry by the policing inspectorate over the its treatment of mourners at the vigil, while Met Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has fended off broad calls for her resignation.