I want women to be protected from everyday sexism
AS Sylvie Pope danced at an under18s nightclub during what should have been a carefree evening with friends, she was groped by a man. She was just 14 at the time.
Since that night six years ago, she has been wrestling with the realities of ‘everyday sexism,’ from unwanted advances in a night club, to being groped at work, to emotionally abusive relationships.
Sylvie, a 20-year-old Manchester University student and leader of Greater Manchester Citizens Women’s Action team, has now started a campaign to get misogyny recognised as a ‘hate crime’ in Manchester.
Under current law, crimes perpetuated against an individual based on their sexuality, religion, disability, race, transgender identity and alternative sub-cultures are branded by Greater Manchester Police as ‘hate crimes.’
The new campaign wants offences typically committed against women such as groping, sexual harassment, up-skirting and rape – to be classed as hate crimes.
These offences are already recognised by law as criminal offences, but the campaigners say the law needs to go further to protect women.
Citizens UK is an organisation which brings community institutions together to achieve social justice.
In a survey released by their Manchester branch, answered by more than 100 men and women, just over 90 per cent of participants, 75pc of whom were female, said that misogyny should be recognised as a hate crime.
“Misogyny is a deeply painful cultural issue which hides in plain sight, lurking in the shadows of our homes and streets,” Sylvie said.
“By recording acts of misogyny as a hate crime it would ensure that reports of such can be properly recorded, allowing for research and a clearer strategy of where prevention and de-escalation initiatives should take place. Perhaps most importantly, it would allow police forces to provide more training for their officers on how to tackle reports of misogyny so that women can receive the proper and official support we deserve.
“Sexuality, religion, disability, race, transgender identity and alternative sub-culture are already nationally recognised protected characteristics, so why then am I not protected as a woman?”
Already backing the campaign are students from Levenshulme High School for Girls, the south Manchester secondary. Before the end of term, an event held by Manchester Citizens – coinciding with the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage – saw more than 100 female pupils unite in a series of inspirational and moving talks to celebrate womanhood.
The event was also an opportunity for the girls to recognise the challenges still faced by women in Greater Manchester and to officially launch the #misogynyishate campaign. A female representative from Cheadle Mosque and students from The University of Manchester reflected on their own experiences of misogyny to highlight the need for a change in policy.
The school’s gymnasium was packed out for it – and fell silent when a group of the school’s drama students gave a powerful performance about how acts of everyday misogyny can lead to more serious offences such as domestic abuse.
Headteacher of Levenshulme High, Dr Jo MacKinnon, said: “It was a really important day for young women in our school to become a part of this significant campaign.
“A lot of the work we do in school is about enabling young women to take up careers and leadership roles and fulfilling the potential they have.
“The misogyny campaign touches the lives both present and future of our students and other women in their lives and in the community.”
A letter calling on Deputy Mayor for Greater Manchester Bev Hughes to back the campaign has had scores of signatures.
According to a national survey conducted by YouGov in 2016, 85pc of women aged 18-24 have experienced unwanted sexual attention in public places and 45pc have experienced unwanted sexual touching.
And 64pc of women of all ages across the UK have experienced sexual harassment in public places, and 35pc of all women have experienced unwanted sexual touching. Like Sylvie, the survey revealed that more than a quarter of women who had received unwanted sexual touching and attention were aged under 16 the first time it happened.
Sylvie says it is important to exercise caution and states the campaign is not an attack on men, but a bid to get more women to report and create further awareness amongst police tackling the issues. She said: “There is often a dangerous and heartbreaking misconception that those fighting for the voices of women are attacking or dismissing the voices of men.
“We are not blaming all men, we are blaming a culture which has allowed everyday sexism against women to permeate itself through our society.
“We are not trying to criminalise men and we do not want to see young men thrown into already crowded prisons for wolf-whistling in the street.”