New law to be considered on tackling misogyny in Scotland

A working group set up to look into tackling violence and harassment against women has recommended the creation of a Misogyny and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act.

It would include a public misogynistic harassment offence; an offence of stirring up hatred against women and girls; an offence of issuing threats of, or invoking, rape or sexual assault or disfigurement of women and girls; and a new statutory aggravation of misogyny.

The Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland working group, chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, was set up last year to independently consider how the Scottish criminal justice system deals with misogyny.

This included examining whether there were gaps in the law that could be addressed by a specific criminal offence to tackle such behaviour.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the group’s report, published on International Women’s Day (March 8) highlighted how the law was “currently failing women and girls”.

Despite “many positive changes to criminal justice in Scotland”, women were not getting the justice they require and deserve, said Baroness Kennedy.

One of the problems is underlying misogynistic attitudes which sustain myths and stereotypes about women, and inform decision-making at every level,” said Baroness Kennedy.

“The normalising of misogynistic conduct means that the police, prosecutors and judiciary – male and female – often do not recognise transgressive conduct for what it is,” she added in her report.

“Women’s trust in policing and legal processes is at an all-time low. The combined forces of the #MeToo movement, the historical child sex abuse scandals, the toxic nature of online platforms and the omnipresence of porn have all increased the volume on issues and experiences which were previously surrounded by too much silence.

“The daily grind of sexual harassment and abuse degrades women’s lives, yet it seems to be accepted as part of what it means to be a woman.

“The failure to understand the ramifications of what is seen as low-level harassment and abuse is just one of the ways in which the criminal justice system falls down for women.”

The report ruled out adding ‘sex’ as a characteristic to the Hate Crime Act introduced last year because misogyny was so deeply rooted in society that, according to the working group, a more fundamental set of responses was required.

“We are recommending that the Scottish government creates a specific piece of legislation for women – to protect them from the daily abuses which blight their lives,” said Baroness Kennedy. “This malign conduct does not happen to men in any comparable way. That is why new law should be created exclusively for women, and those perceived to be women, reflecting the inherently gendered nature of the problem we have been asked to address.

“Such law will establish new boundaries and will, importantly, shift the dial towards perpetrator behaviours and away from the current focus on women as victims.”

Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown said the recommendations in Baroness Kennedy’s report will now be closely considered

The working group gathered oral and written evidence from a number of experts and stakeholders and from people with lived experience to determine what more we can do to deal with misogynistic conduct.

Mr Brown said: “I would like to thank Baroness Kennedy for the hard work she and her working group have undertaken in the development of this report.

“This is an extremely important piece of work to help inform policy to address the many forms of violence, transgression and abuse experienced by women which may emanate from misogyny and is a milestone in making our society safe, equal and fair. It is clear to me that to achieve true equality we must continue to think about our messaging and how men’s attitudes to women can be effectively challenged to make women feel safe when going about their everyday lives.

“We welcome the working group’s report on its findings and recommendations and will now carefully consider those before publishing our response in due course.”

He added: “We are absolutely clear that women and girls should not experience any form of harassment, abuse or violence which is why we set up this independent working group and it is fitting its findings were published on International Women’s Day.”

Engender’s Policy and Parliamentary Manager, Eilidh Dickson, who was a member of the working group, said: “The report presented by Baroness Kennedy reflects much of our perspective on the deeply ingrained and normalised misogynistic attitudes and behaviours that are based on entitlement to women, their bodies, attention and capabilities and recommends a holistic approach.

“Misogyny constrains every aspect of women’s lives – from the decisions about what time or where we feel comfortable to go for walk in our own neighbourhoods, to the subjects we take at school because of peer pressure, teasing or worse if we break with gendered conventions. Women in Scotland need a wholesale culture shift towards a society which values equality and where misogyny is no longer acceptable. For a number of years Engender has been calling for a standalone criminal offence based on misogyny; using the law as one piece of the puzzle to making women safer in Scotland.”

Baroness Kennedy’s recommendations have been welcomed in principle by the First Minister.

In a parliamentary statement to mark International Women’s Day, Ms Sturgeon said the report “highlighted ways in which the law was currently failing women and girls, and it gave powerful voice to the stark reality of the misogyny faced by women in everyday life”.

The First Minister thanked Baroness Kennedy and the working group for producing the report and said Ministers would respond formally as soon as possible, after giving full consideration to the recommendations.

It comes after MPs in the House of Commons last week voted to overturn a Lords amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill that would have made misogyny a hate crime in England and Wales. The amendment was defeated by 314 votes to 190.

Policing Minister Kit Malthouse said while the Government understands and shares the “genuine concern” about the safety of women and girls, a Lords amendment to the Bill “runs the risk of being damaging to the cause of women’s safety” and could have “unintended consequences”.