In 2018, a report by Britain’s MPs came to the conclusion that women and girls face relentless abuse and misogynist treatment in public – ranging from harassment to sexual assault. Plan International reports that two out of three girls in the UK have been sexually harassed, with 33% of girls who have been harassed too embarrassed to tell anyone. Plus, more than half of UK students say they’ve faced unwanted sexual behavior.
Clearly, there is a serious problem when it comes to women and girls’ safety in public.
The Law Commission, an independent body that recommends changes to British law when needed, is currently conducting a review of hate crime in England and Wales. Part of this entails investigating whether misogyny can be recognized as a hate crime.
If the Law Commission finds that it should, this could mean that police would have more concrete action to take against harassment, assault, stalking, and the many other crimes that are perpetrated against women every day.
Currently, these crimes are not included in hate crime legislation. Given that misogyny often intersects with bigotry and racism, this means that there are many women who are in higher danger of experiencing abuse. For example, the documentary I’d just Like to Be Free exposes the fact that many black women experience racist abuse after rejecting advances.
MP Stella Creasy says, “Women are rightly protected from harassment in the workplace, but that changes as soon as they step out onto the street.” She also points out that most women don’t report incidents of harassment and assault. Which makes sense, given the fact that right now, there aren’t enough laws in place to protect us. Creasy says that “making misogyny a hate crime will give women greater confidence that if they report their experience to the police, it will be taken seriously.”
And for those men out there who are up in arms about this, if misogyny were to become classified as a hate crime, no other behaviors would be criminalized. This measure would simply be strengthening the resources and recourse judges and police have to confront the epidemic of gender-based abuse. For example, in general the maximum sentence for assault in Britain is six months. But it can be up to two years if that assault is classified as a hate crime. This means that perpetrators would be deterred from assaulting women, and women in turn would feel more comfortable coming forward.
Let’s hope that the Law Commission finds in favor of making misogyny a hate crime. There is nothing wrong with strengthening the currently lacking protections in place for women. As an American, I can’t help but think how inconceivable this would be in the US. Can you imagine Trump – the president who has been accused of sexual assault countless times over – to refrain from launching a crusade against something like this? Say what you want about the other issues Britain is facing, but given that this is even on the agenda here, I feel hopeful.
