Over the last couple of months, checking the news as a woman has been kind of terrifying. It feels like almost every week there’s another hate crime happening directed at women, one of the most recent being the Southport stabbings. It feels like we have entered a new era of witch-hunts in the UK, and the new government has finally decided to do something about it.
What is the government planning on doing about this?
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper recently ordered a review of the UK’s counter-extremism strategy, which hasn’t been updated since 2015. The planned review is meant to assess harmful ideologies circulating online, causing hatred and violence, in order to identify gaps in the system. The focus of this review is especially set on the rise of Islamism and far-right extremism as well as misogyny and the growing number of radicalised youth.
According to the BBC Cooper said the new strategy will “map and monitor extremist trends” so that action can be taken to lead people away from those ideologies. The review of the counter-extremism strategy is expected to be completed by October, the BBC said.
Long story short, the government doesn’t have a plan of action yet. Or at least it’s not being shared with the public for now. I would argue that any action will be better than no action.
Alongside the spike in misogyny, there has also been an increase in trans-exclusionary radical feminism, and more generally transphobia. LGBTQ+ activists calling the UK a “TERF island” says the European Student Think Tank. By opening up the conversation about misogyny and violence against women and girls, the government also needs to show awareness of the exclusion this brings towards trans people and include this in any new extremism strategy.
What is the difference between calling it terrorism and calling it extremism and why has this sparked such criticism?
By law terrorism is defined as “using violence and threats of violence to influence the government or an international governmental organisation, or to intimidate the public”. It either has a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.
Extremism on the other hand is defined as “the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others”.
At a first glance, these two definitions don’t seem too different. One is specified as an organisational body and the other is kept more general.
So why does this distinction matter so much to people (especially men on the internet)?
I’m assuming because to them terrorism is mostly associated with bombs and mass shootings, and they can’t see that seeking out a place most likely occupied by women and girls and then pulling a knife and attacking them isn’t all too different.
And to all those men in the comments out there, saying that misogyny is a rarity: According to a survey published by the British Transport Police, violence against women on UK trains has risen by 50% in only two years.
These numbers make it even more surprising that the government is only now taking action against misogyny. Anna Birley, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, told the Guardian “I think it’s just a reminder of the fact that we’ve got this issue of violence against women and girls that isn’t going away and if anything is getting worse”.
What does freedom of speech have to do with all this?
An article published by The Telegraph states that there are fears about the misogyny extremism law threatening freedom of speech, saying that the government has been warned against taking action. In response to these concerns, MP Jess Phillips told LBC “People can hold views about women all they like, but it’s not OK any more to ignore the massive growing threat caused by online hatred towards women and for us to ignore it because we’re worried about the line, rather than making sure the line is in the right place as we would do with any other extremist ideology.”
The European Convention on Human Rights enshrines a collection of basic human rights for everyone entering Europe. Article 10 of the convention states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression or freedom of speech. This protects your right to hold your own opinions and to express them freely without government interference.
This is why some people are criticising the misogyny extremism law, because they argue that it impacts people’s freedom of speech. Their freedom of speech to spread hateful words about women and girls. Their freedom of expression to join online forums planning hate crimes against women and hyping each other up by calling us whores, bitches, sluts and whatever other vitriolic slurs they can come up with. I’m sure their vocabulary of hate is way more advanced than mine.
To clarify, the misogyny extremism law WILL NOT impact or minimise your freedom of expression. There are restrictions to these rights, especially when your freedom of speech greatly impacts someone else’s basic rights. On the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s website it says “Although you have freedom of expression, you also have a duty to behave responsibly and to respect other people’s rights. An authority may be allowed to restrict your freedom of expression if, for example, you express views that encourage racial or religious hatred “.
In hopes that every angry man on the internet reads this: Your hate for women is NOT your human right.
Why is misogyny not a hate crime?
To this day, misogyny as a belief is not recognised as a hate crime in the United Kingdom. It is however important to note that sex is considered a protected characteristic under the Equality Act (2010), meaning that discrimination against women is considered a crime.
On the government’s website, it states “This is because expert opinion and major women’s groups, such as Women’s Aid and Rape Crisis, believe it may actually be harmful and make it even harder to secure convictions”.
In 2018 the former government started a three-year long report looking into concerns around making the expression of a belief misogyny a hate crime in the UK. The concerns are “potential negative consequences of adding these characteristics (sex or gender), including the assessment that this could put prosecutions of the most serious crimes targeting women and girls at risk”. So, like many other things in politics, they managed to say a lot without actually saying anything.
But at least the government is now considering treating misogyny as extremism. I’m feeling safer already.