Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
make misogyny a hate crime.
The Minister of State, Home Office () (Con)
My Lords, the Government are committed to tackling violence
against women and girls. We have asked the Law Commission to
undertake a review of hate crime legislation, including whether
additional protective characteristics such as sex and gender
should be included. The Law Commission is due to publish its
recommendations imminently and it is important that we hear what
the commission proposes before deciding on a position on this
matter.
(Lab)
I am still haunted by the thought of the last few hours of Sarah
Everard—how her life changed in an instant and how terrified she
must have been. It could have been any young woman, because the
murdering misogynist who is now serving time had prepared to pick
any young woman. There are online groups that objectify and
dehumanise women and girls and they radicalise young men, who go
on to commit acts of aggression designed to intimidate, humiliate
and control women. When will the Minister act on making misogyny
a hate crime to counteract the widespread misogynist culture in
the police and elsewhere and the shameful drop in rape
convictions?
(Con)
My Lords, what the noble Baroness has outlined goes far beyond
misogyny, although I totally appreciate her question, in that
quite often it starts with misogyny. On rape convictions, which I
heard her mention right at the end, she will know that a rape
review has been carried out, the intention of which is to improve
the response right through the criminal justice system.
(LD)
My Lords, we were all terribly shocked as we heard about the
appalling murder of Sarah Everard and there has been a greater
emphasis and scrutiny on the embedded epidemic of violence
against women and girls and the misogyny that goes alongside it.
Does the Minister agree with Mark Hamilton, the Deputy Chief
Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, along with
growing numbers of other senior police officers, who said:
“I think this is a welcome addition to how we respond to crime …
in this area … it’s a good way of understanding offender
behaviour and preventing things escalating from the more minor
offences”—
as we saw with Wayne Couzens—
“up to sexually motivated crime and murder”?
(Con)
I would not describe Sarah Everard’s killer’s misdemeanours as
minor, but I know exactly where the noble Baroness is coming
from, which is the trajectory from which these things start, and
I do not disagree with her on that. I am very happy with what the
Government have done for the past few years: £100 million towards
tackling violence against women and girls; stalking protection
orders; allowing new offences to tackle forced marriage and
revenge porn; and, of course, passing the landmark Domestic Abuse
Act.
(Con)
My Lords, is it not wise to await the outcome of the review,
because there is a danger in having a proliferation of crimes on
the statute book?
(Con)
It certainly is and I think that I have articulated to the House
that that is what we intend to do.
(CB)
My Lords, does the noble Baroness accept that, although we
welcome the Law Commission’s review, in any consultation prior to
a Bill, it is profoundly important that the terminology used is
defined as part of the consultation? We are seeing too many
consultations coming forward without clear definitions, which is
entirely confusing for the public to respond to.
(Con)
I agree with the noble Baroness that terminology is important—and
terminology changes, so it is important to keep up to date with
it.
(Lab)
My Lords, on 15 November, the Minister said, in response to an
amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Newlove, that she would ask
police forces to record and identify any crimes of violence
against the person where the victim perceives it to be motivated
by hostility based on their sex. If she has not already done
this, when will she do it? Does she accept that, whatever policy
is adopted following the Law Commission’s report, women should be
able to expect the same approach across all police forces?
(Con)
I agree with the noble Baroness that we need consistency across
police forces. I know that we are working with police forces
across the country to assist in the endeavour that I outlined to
my noble friend Lady Newlove.
(CB)
My Lords, in some recent terrorist crimes in America, the
perpetrators have been found to be members of incels—involuntary
celibate—groups. Do the Government monitor membership of these
groups in the UK or does that wait until the time of the
review?
(Con)
Without going into the details, monitoring of some of the threats
that we face goes on in the UK. Noble Lords will have seen in the
press some examples of where that has led to more violent
crime.
(GP)
My Lords, we saw with the killer of Sarah Everard that he was
part of the police and was protected by a quite toxic culture
within the police. Does the Minister agree that if we had
misogyny as a crime, the police themselves might improve on their
behaviour?
(Con)
It was clear from the murder of Sarah Everard and the ensuing
inquiry that we need to look into an awful lot of areas: the
culture, vetting and other elements of what might have led to
what happened. It probably goes beyond misogyny.
(Lab)
My Lords, when the Minister responded to my noble friend, she
said that she was waiting for the outcome of the Law Commission’s
review and its recommendations. Does she agree that the
Government need to do more than just respond? They need to
proactively act. She mentioned the various other measures that
the Government have taken, but here is a golden opportunity to
act. What legislation are the Government looking at to move the
agenda forward to recognise the recommendations of the Law
Commission and the rape review?
(Con)
I agree with the noble Lord that it is not just about looking at
the recommendations, but about seeing how we can put them into
legislation and how they become part of our efforts to fight hate
crime in whatever form it exists.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, first, even before we decide whether we should bring in
hate crime for misogyny—hatred of women—could the Government
clarify that they understand what women are and untangle the
definition of women from the confusion around gender? Secondly,
is there a danger that, in talking about an epidemic of misogyny,
we might frighten young women into thinking that all young men
hate them?
(Con)
We need to strike a balance. On defining what women are, I do not
think that the time that I am allotted today is long enough—the
noble Baroness is tempting me, but I shall not be drawn into
that. However, I think that the language that we use should be
very clear so that everyone knows what we are talking about.
Balance is incredibly important here as well, because we do not
want a generation of terrified women.
(Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that what the National
Education Union calls everyday sexism should never go
unchallenged in any education setting? It is quite clear that
sexism at any level can lead to misogyny among men and boys
later.
(Con)
It is incumbent on us all, whether we are parents, teachers or
somebody else with influence on children’s lives, to teach them
the value of respect towards each other and towards the opposite
sex.
(CB)
My Lords, I suggest to the Minister that, before making misogyny
a hate crime, it would be wise to look more widely at the various
offences that already exist and to add this if it is appropriate,
or possibly to widen some other offence to include it. There is a
grave danger, as has been said, of making too many offences.
(Con)
The noble and learned Baroness is absolutely right, and we look
forward to the Law Commission’s recommendations in this area.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, building on the response that the Minister gave to my
noble friend Lady Blower, could she say what actions her
colleagues in the Department for Education have taken following
the Everyone’s Invited website and the emergence of very powerful
evidence of the kind of thing that my noble friend was talking
about?
(Con)
I am not particularly equipped to talk about Everyone’s Invited,
but I will go back to the point that was made, which the noble
Baroness is following up on, which is that respect for other
people, whether of the same or opposite sex, is incredibly
important in a civilised society, and we all need to lead by
example.
