Police dismay at treating misogyny as hate crime

TREATING misogyny as a hate crime is a “waste of time”, police have said, as a report reveals there has been just one conviction during a two-year scheme.

The scheme meant crimes such as harassment would attract harsher sentences if motivated by sexism or misogyny,

but a paper by the University of Nottingham said local officers considered the policy a “tick box” exercise which ate up time and resources.

While the public supported the change and women who had reported incidents were broadly positive, police were “dismissive” and “not in favour of the policy”, the research by Prof Louise Mullany, of the University of Nottingham,

and Dr Loretta Trickett, of Nottingham Trent University’s Law School, found.

Officers said it “incorporated some behaviours that were fairly trivial, did not warrant a police response and used up resources without being backed by a mandate from the public”. One officer said that it “felt like a vanity project”. He added: “I just think if someone wolf

whistles you when you walk past a building site, so what?

“I can see where they are going with it, but I feel sorry for blokes because they must be confused by what they can and can’t say.” Police also said the training they were given was “poor”.

A police spokesman said the aim of the policy had been to encourage the public to report the behaviour as opposed

to pushing for convictions.

“We are, of course, disappointed to read that some officers did not find the training beneficial,” she said. “We provided a comprehensive training package and received positive feedback at the time.”

But she warned: “Nottinghamshire Police will look to prosecute offenders where possible.”