An initiative to pass the misogyny to a hate crime in the United Kingdom scrapped by British MPs
Admin GHRTV
01-03-2022
Idil Igdir
Women’s Rights Intern,
Global Human Rights Defence.
In January 2022, the House of Lords sought to add the offense to the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Bill to make misogyny a hate crime, as an attempt to broaden the scope of protection for women and girls in the UK. Currently, sex and gender are not considered criteria for triggering a hate crime in the country. The only characteristics that can be taken into account in England and Wales are race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and transcendent identity. Nonetheless, despite the presence of the aforementioned criteria, there is still no specific hate crime offense to this date. Therefore, the House of Lords intended to make this amendment to the bill to pave the way for the police to be able to record crimes motivated by hate and hostility towards the sex or gender of the victims, which would give judges the possibility of taking this into account when sentencing offenders.
In light of this important initiative, many attempts have been made, from the public to opposition Labor and Liberal Democrat MPs, to support calls to make misogyny a hate crime, but yet the government, in particular Home Secretary Priti Patel, has tackled this problem saying dramatically that it will lead to an environment that is 'more harmful than helpful' for victims of violence against women and girls. But referring to Home Secretary views, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said: “ Crime is rising, prosecutions are falling and there are still major steps that Labour is calling for to keep communities safe that Priti Patel is refusing to take. “
Thus, on February 28, 2022, MPs voted against the number of amendments, including “ that misogyny should be classified as a hate crime “.
An initiative to protect women and girls from sexual harassment in the streets, in public spaces, or even online, where women and girls increasingly experience abuse from men, was swept aside by MPs in England and Wales.
It was an important step in ending the misogynistic attitudes prevalent in society, and even in politics, yet there are still obstacles in the way.
Sources and Further Reading :
Justin Parkinson, Political reporter, ( February 21, 2022 ) “ Misogyny shouldn't become a hate crime - Priti Patel “, BBC News UK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60461156
(February 28, 2022 ) “ Crime bill: MPs reject proposal to make misogyny a hate crime “, BBC News UK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60565216
Jennifer Scott, Online political reporter ( October 5, 2021 ) “ Misogyny: Why is it not a hate crime? “, BBC News UK.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-56399862
Rajeev Syal, Home affairs editor ( February 21, 2022 ) “ Ministers to reject making misogyny a hate crime in England and Wales “, The Guardian.
Lizzie Dearden, Home affairs editor ( January 18, 2022 ) “ Government will vote against making misogyny a hate crime after House of Lords backs new law, Dominic Raab suggests “, Independent.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/misogyny-hate-crime-law-raab-b1995499.html
