Leeds student leads campaign to make misogyny a hate crime amid 'growing problem' of violence against women
A student officer at Leeds University Union has joined a campaign to make misogyny a hate crime amid a “growing problem” of violence against women,
Amara Relf, Union Affairs and Communications Officer at LUU worked with fellow officers at Liverpool Guild of Students and Newcastle University SU to launch a petition urging the Government to update the Sentencing Act 2020 to record crimes motivated by misogyny as hate crimes and introduce tougher laws for online abuse.
Student officers at the three universities have already amassed enough signatures to trigger a government response and are aiming to reach 100,000 signatures to secure a parliamentary debate on the issue.
Ms Relf said: “Male violence against women and girls is a growing problem.
“Working together as a student movement we aim to influence the government to recognise and address it through harsher sentencing, increased reporting, and a clampdown on everyday harassment - making life safer for women at university and in the wider community.”
A statement from the trio said that in their roles it became apparent that “everyday behaviours that shape women’s lives” such as catcalling, groping, sexually suggestive comments and harassment are “often minimised, overlooked, or left entirely unpunished”.
It states: “Sexual harassment, as its own category, is rarely criminalised in practice. This lack of consequence not only enables harmful behaviour but actively discourages reporting.
“This is why we have launched a petition calling for misogyny to be recognised as a hate crime.”
In 2021, The Law Commission recommended against adding sex or gender as a protected characteristic for aggravated offences, saying that it would be “ineffective” at protecting women and girls and in some cases counterproductive as it would make it more difficult to secure prosecutions and create unhelpful hierarchies of victims.
However, Labour’s 2021 green paper ‘Ending Violence Against Women and Girls’ backed changing the law to make misogyny a hate crime and enhancing sentences when the link is shown.
Last week the solicitor general, Ellie Reeves MP, visited Leeds honour-based abuse charity Karma Nirvana and said that tackling Violence Against Women and Girls was her “number one priority”.
The petition, which calls on the Government to fulfil its pledge to change the law, can be viewed here.