in light of an event that has taken place in the UK involving the abduction and murder of a woman named Sarah Everard by the hands of a police officer in London which re-sparked inquiries about how the courts handle these cases of gender-based crimes.
activists called for lawmakers to expand the definition of hate crime in hopes to make sure those who conduct these acts of violence against women experience a greater punishment than what is currently in place. Prime minister Boris Johnson states “there is already abundant legislation to combat violence against women”. it seems like the prime minister doesn’t think that violence against women should be considered a hate crime. aside from the case of Sarah’s horrific murder, these activists do have a point, if a man has a history of violence against women then that said man should be hit with a hate crime and nothing less of that.
I would agree that violence against women with a sexist or misogynistic motivation would meet the criteria necessary to count as a hate crime. A hate crime is a crime committed against an individual or group based on that person’s status or identity. This can include any demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, gender, or national origin. I would be interested to know more about PM Boris Johnson’s view on this. If directly asked, I would be curious of his answer to if this would be considered a hate crime. It is not necessarily about legislation, but one’s definition and criteria for a hate crime, although I do see why politicians may spin it to be about government overreach to distract from answering and addressing the actual question. I would certainly see any violence motivated by discrimination or violence against a specific gender as grounds to be considered a hate crime.