Asked by: Jas Athwal (Labour - Ilford South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to designate misogyny as a hate crime.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.
The Government is carefully considering how best to tackle hate crime. We will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: White, Tess (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - North East Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the proposed Misogyny Bill will be introduced before the end of the current parliamentary session.
Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
As set out in the answer to question S6W-37425, which was answered on 2 May 2025, due to the short amount of time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. Therefore, the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.
However, in order to allow for the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ to be added to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that women and girls have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act, we will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI under the powers within the Act. This will allow for views to be offered on the approach taken before a finalised SSI is then subsequently laid which will, if agreed, result in new protections for women and girls being introduced.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
Asked by: Kerr, Stephen (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Central Scotland)
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34000 by Angela Constance on 7 February 2025, and in light of the recent judgment by the Supreme Court on the legal definition of "woman”, whether it plans to publish a bill to implement the recommendations of the Working Group on Misogyny in the current parliamentary session, and, if so, when.
Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs
As set out in answer to question S6W-37425, which was answered on 2 May 2025, due to the short amount of time left in this parliamentary session, there is insufficient time for a Misogyny Bill to be finalised and introduced. Therefore, the Scottish Government has decided not to proceed with this Bill in this parliamentary session.
However, in order to allow for the protected characteristic of ‘sex’ to be added to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 so that women and girls have the same protections as other groups protected by that Act, we will lay before the Scottish Parliament in September a proposed draft of an SSI under the powers within the Act. This will allow for views to be offered on the approach taken before a finalised SSI is then subsequently laid which will, if agreed, result in new protections for women and girls being introduced.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
Mentions:
1: Dan Jarvis (Lab - Barnsley North) He also asked about non-hate crime incidents. - Speech Link
2: Oliver Ryan (LAB - Burnley) As interesting as it sounds, I have no idea what a “manosphere” is. - Speech Link
3: Caroline Voaden (LD - South Devon) seriously as a form of extremism? - Speech Link
4: Bernard Jenkin (Con - Harwich and North Essex) “non-hate crime incident” is. - Speech Link
5: Jim Shannon (DUP - Strangford) Will the revival of non-crime hate incidents come with a substantial increase in police funding, and - Speech Link
May. 01 2025
Source Page: Reforming the criminal law to address misogyny: Responses to consultationFound: sit alongside existing legislation such as the Hate Crime and Public Order Act. • Some respondents had
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department’s sentencing review will consider the potential merits of designating misogyny as a hate crime.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for this Government. This Government has made a clear commitment to halve violence against women and girls within a decade.
Our manifesto committed to a review of sentencing to ensure the framework is up to date. In October 2024, the Government launched an independent Sentencing Review, chaired by David Gauke.
The Sentencing Review will be guided by three principles. Firstly, sentences must punish offenders and protect the public – there must always be space in prison for the most dangerous offenders.
Secondly, sentences must encourage offenders to turn their backs on a life of crime, cutting crime by reducing reoffending. Thirdly, we must expand and make greater use of punishment outside of prison.
The Review has a broad remit. It will be up to the chair to decide on the areas of focus, but we have asked the Review to specifically look at the sentencing of offences primarily committed against women and girls.
Written Evidence Mar. 19 2025
Inquiry: Gendered IslamophobiaFound: directed at Muslims has long been recognised as a ‘pervasive social ill’.
Written Evidence May. 06 2025
Inquiry: Media literacyFound: We have worked on Horizon 2020 projects, with the UN and the OSCE, as well as university consortium
Mentions:
1: Feryal Clark (Lab - Enfield North) noble Friend Baroness Jones of Whitchurch.In 2023, the previous Government appointed Baroness Bertin as - Speech Link
Written Evidence Jan. 22 2025
Inquiry: Gendered IslamophobiaFound: We recognise anti-Muslim bigotry is a societal problem which harms a significant number of people in