A report published this morning has recommended that the Scottish government rollout a misogyny act.
A new report published today for the Scottish government by Baroness Helena Kennedy QC has advocated for “innovative, change-making and radical” legal reforms, including a new statute to combat misogyny.
The report – ‘Misogyny – A Human Rights Issue’ – calls for the creation of a Misogyny and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act, which would create: a new statutory aggravation of misogyny; a new offence of stirring up hatred against women and girls; a new offence of public misogynistic harassment; and a new offence of issuing threats of, or invoking, rape or sexual assault or disfigurement of women and girls, online and offline.
The report stressed that these recommendations are designed as a holistic response, not a menu of options.
If implemented by the Scottish government, Scotland would be leading the world in tackling misogyny.
Recognising that the law alone cannot address misogyny, the Scottish government is also urged to invest sufficient resource in training across the criminal justice system and frontline public agencies, including schools and colleges; in improving technology and police capacity for recording and reporting; and in helping men and boys understand misogyny. Women should be encouraged to see this law as designed for women to address their daily experiences of abusive conduct and to report conduct they experience or see.
The recommendations are the result of a year-long investigation by an eight-strong working group chaired by Baroness Kennedy. The independent Misogyny and Criminal Justice Working Group was appointed in January 2021 to address misogyny in the criminal justice system. The group was asked to consider whether there were gaps in existing law and whether adding ‘sex’ to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 would be an effective way of protecting women.
The report rules out the addition of ‘sex’ as a characteristic to existing hate crime legislation because misogyny is so deeply rooted in society that, according to the working group, a more fundamental set of responses is required.
The group argued out that misogyny was complex, less about hate and more about male entitlement and the maintenance of male primacy. The role of the law would be to criminalise abusive conduct which flowed from misogyny.
In examining the issue, the working group conducted a survey of lived experiences of misogyny in Scotland, collecting more than 930 responses, and also gathered existing evidence and research from a range of women’s groups, academics, legal and policy experts as well as Police Scotland. The group also looked at efforts to tackle misogyny in other parts of the world.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, chair of the Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland Working Group said: “This is an issue that affects fifty-two per cent of the population. 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 acknowledge the ramifications of what is seen as low-level harassment is just one of the ways in which the criminal justice system fails women. What is seen as low-level harassment is often the sub soil from which more grave crimes emerge. The current system allows abhorrent behaviour to be missed, ignored, and normalised. The women we spoke to through this investigation told us: enough is enough; something must be done.
“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. 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.
“This is an ambitious and transformative project. Its purpose is to concentrate minds. Police and prosecutors and others within the legal system – and beyond – will have to consider whether an offence has stemmed from misogyny. People are concerned that rape and sexual assault laws are not working and the reason largely lies in the underlying mindsets and behaviours into which we have all been socialised. What we are recommending is innovative, change-making and radical. It will no doubt raise alarms about abandoning the default position that all law should be neutral and be available to men as well as women. That assumes an equality that sadly does not yet exist. The reality is that there are particular kinds of behaviour which target women. That is why we need legislation that is targeted at protecting women by focussing on male behaviour.
“I want to be clear that the issue we are attempting to tackle does not involve all men. Not all men abuse and harass women. However, most women have at some time experienced harassment or abuse. We need good men to be allies in making the change.
“Our recommendation for new legislation will not eliminate the abuse experienced by women; a whole range of responses and measures are needed. Misogyny can only be challenged through a serious cultural shift across society. However, the law matters. Social media and the ready availability of hard porn have introduced a disinhibition about what is said and done online and now offline. Misogynistic behaviour is commonplace. We are advocating legal reform because the law sets boundaries and marks certain conduct as criminal, and therefore unacceptable. That power cannot be underestimated. Law that is failing half the population is seriously failing.”
Eilidh Dickson, policy and parliamentary manager at Engender, said: “Misogyny constrains women’s lives in Scotland in myriad ways – from overt threats of violence through to the choices we make throughout our education and work lives. We’re pleased to see these recommendations call for a broad and holistic response to tackling misogyny in Scotland, and are particularly excited at the prospect of introducing legislation aimed at public harassment and inciting violence against women. Misogyny is deeply engrained in our society, and we’re pleased that the Misogyny Working Group has been able to give such time, attention and expertise to finding real solutions to making women safer and more free in Scotland.”
It is expected the report and recommendations will now be considered by the Scottish government.
