Classing Misogyny as a Hate Crime

Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about making misogyny a hate crime.

I was pleased to support the Newlove Amendment in the House of Commons on 28 February, which would have changed the law to achieve this. Regrettably, however, the Government voted to remove the Amendment from the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. Like you, I am very disappointed by this outcome. The Bill now returns to the House of Lords, which could vote to reinsert the Newlove Amendment. I will follow any developments in the Lords closely.

We know that misogyny sits behind much harassment and intimidating behaviour that unfortunately, many women experience as a reality every day in our communities. It fuels behaviour that far too often escalates into serious offences and harm to women and girls. The amendment tabled by Baroness Newlove aimed to tackle this. It would have required police forces to record data on crimes motivated by hostility towards the victim’s sex or gender and it would have requited courts to consider this hostility as an aggravating factor when deciding the seriousness of cases which are not sexual or domestic offences.

As you will be aware, the campaign to recognise misogyny as an aggravating factor in the same way that we recognise hostility against a person due to disability, race or other characteristics has been running for years. I believe that now is the time to close the gap in our law and to state clearly that we do not accept the status quo and that things must change. There is much support for this reform and the Government should take this opportunity to rectify the law on this.

Even though we have come a long way, progress towards meaningful change for women is too slow. That is why I would also like to see a toughening of existing sentences for perpetrators of rape and stalking, and the creation of new specific offences for street sexual harassment.

Let me assure you that I will continue to support efforts to ensure good intentions are backed up by effective action and real accountability.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this important issue.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Dowd