Misogyny as a Hate Crime - an Explainer
What Is Raise Your Voice?
Raise Your Voice is a project designed to tackle sexual harassment in NI, bringing together the experience and expertise of 4 organisations in the women’s sector in Northern Ireland; Women’s Resource & Development Agency (WRDA), Northern Ireland Rural Women’s Network (NIRWN), Reclaim the Agenda (RTA), and Women’s Support Network (WSN).
The goal is to tackle sexual harassment and sexual violence in Northern Ireland through community engagement, and to work to create cultural shift, both through public awareness and through lobbying for changes to the law where this is relevant. To do this we organise workshops for women, trans and non-binary people in Year 1, and for men in Year 2. Where lobbying is concerned, have taken various approaches. For example, we hope to work to bring an upskirting law to Northern Ireland, we have responded to IPSO’s review into press reporting, and we responded to the Hate Crime Legislation Review (link here). The motions that we have brought to Belfast City Council and to Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council relate to the Hate Crime Legislation Review, calling on Councils to support our submission on misogyny and to support our project as a whole, and we hope to bring this motion to every Council in the coming months.
What is a hate crime?
A hate crime is a crime that is motivated by hate. The definition of “hate” can be interpreted in a number of ways – all of which are detailed in our response to the Review – but the important thing to note is that a hate crime has to be an action that is already criminal. For example, an assault is already a crime, but an assault motivated by hatred of the victim because of their identity is a hate crime. Hate crime legislation targets actions, not thoughts, and adds an important clarifying detail to a conviction, as well as sending a signal to society that hate crimes are understood to be especially heinous because they are especially harmful.
What is misogyny?
The dictionary defines misogyny as “dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women”. This does not mean that every crime against a woman is motivated by misogyny, in the same way that not every crime committed against an LGBT person is motivated by homophobia. However, in many cases there is evidence that the perpetrator held these kinds of views and was acting upon them at the time. Proving that this was the motivation for the crime would be the job of the justice system.
What happens if misogyny becomes a category of hate crime?
To begin with, it is vital to understand that we already have hate crime legislation in Northern Ireland, linked to sectarianism, racism and homophobia. This means a crime of, for example, assault, motivated by the victim’s perceived sexual orientation, race or religion, will be categorised as a hate crime. The Review, which ran for several months under Judge Desmond Marrinan, asks if those categories should be expanded on various grounds. It asks about age, homeless status, intersex status, transgender status, vulnerability, and gender. In practical terms, if any of these categories are accepted, what this means is that they will join the existing categories and become categories of hate crime. In the case of crimes on the basis of gender,specifically misogyny, this means that when a woman is a victim of a crime such as assault or harassment for which she was targeted specifically because she is a woman, the law will recognise that.In terms of online misogynistic hate speech, it will give us protection against the common issue of women being abused and harassed online by – we hope – compelling social media companies to take action against those who engage in this behaviour and removing hate speech.
What about free speech?
It is apparent from comment on social media, that there is also a degree of confusion as to what the proposal means. Concerns about free speech have been raised by people who are concerned about the motion. The reality is that we do not have an absolute right to free speech anywhere in the UK. Already hate speech and incitement to hatred are illegal in UK law, and in Northern Ireland. This law will not criminalise jokes or remarks on the sole basis that they cause offence or hurt. In the same way that there may be some social consequences for making a racist remark, but legal consequences for engaging in racist hate speech – a bar that is kept high – this law would now allow for the same protections from misogynistic hate speech.
What about hatred of men / misandry?
The dictionary defines misandry as “dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against men”. At first glance, it can seem like the mirror of misogyny, and that a fair approach would be to criminalise both. However, it is not the same or equivalent to misogyny. It is vital that we recognise that hate crimes based on gender are overwhelmingly targeted at women and girls, including transgender women and girls and this definition should specify that misogyny is the issue that must be addressed. According to the consultation, hate crime is most often directed towards “already stigmatised and marginalised groups”. Misogyny seeks to reinforce male dominance in a way that the reverse never could. Misogyny is a motivator or aggravating factor in many crimes, including violent crimes like rape, sexual abuse and assault, domestic abuse, assault, and murder, as well as stalking, sexual harassment and more. These crimes are almost always carried out by men, and indeed violent crimes against men are also almost always carried out by men. Including misogyny as a category of hate crime will allow many of these crimes to be prosecuted for what they truly are; crimes motivated by hate. This will also allow the record of these crimes to accurately reflect what occurred, and this will help to protect potential future victims.
Will it work?
In jurisdictions that have already taken this approach eg in Nottinghamshire County in England, it has been a success – it greatly increases the confidence of victims in the police and in surveys the overwhelming majority of respondents who brought complaints to police reported feeling like their concerns were taken seriously and agreed that they would encourage others to report (even if their case made it no further). This, in itself, is a significant result, given that a fear of being mocked,derided or dismissed is one of the main reasons why victims don’t report elsewhere and why so many feel alienated from the justice system. This tells us what we have long suspected: it means a lotto be seen, heard and taken seriously.
