Police under pressure to treat abuse and harassment of women as a hate crime

POLICE FORCES across the country are being asked to record abuse and harassment of women as a hate crime.

Campaign groups want constabularies in England and Wales to follow the example of Nottinghamshire Police in expanding the scope of hate crime offending to include misogyny. An open letter co-signed by the Fawcett Society, civil society alliance Citizens UK, senior faith leaders and non-governmental organisations asks the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) to vote to record misogyny as a hate crime nationwide at its upcoming meeting on Wednesday. Campaigners say the likes of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements highlight the need to tackle the abuse, harassment and problematic behaviour that many women are subject to, which they say can create “a culture of impunity in society, leading to more severe crimes”.

So far only a handful of forces have followed Nottinghamshire Police’s lead since it introduced the measures in 2016 – applying to incidents ranging from street harassment through to unwanted physical approaches.

Helen Voce, from Nottingham Women’s Centre, said: “We believe misogyny is the ‘soil’ in which violence against women and girls grows.

“Classifying misogyny as a hate crime enables the police to deal robustly with the root causes of violence against women.”

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: “Misogyny is so widespread it has become normalised in our society.

“As a result, women are routinely objectified and harassed. Unless we challenge it, this won’t change. We have to start calling misogyny out for what it is – a hate crime.”

A National Police Chiefs’ Council spokesman said: “Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland annually monitor five strands of hate crime.

“Police chiefs will be presented with a paper that asks them to consider the case for monitoring gender-based hate crime in the same way.”