A group of Manchester students is campaigning for Greater Manchester Police to class misogyny as a hate crime ahead of a nationwide review.
The ‘Misogyny Is Hate’ group, a student run branch of Citizens UK, organised a rally at the University of Manchester on Wednesday 8th December to demand that GMP take action now.
Campaign leader Sylvie Pope, 20, said: “We are calling on GMP, and CC Ian Hopkins in particular to recognise misogyny as a hate crime across GM as operationally every precinct has the power to roll this out.”
Female community leaders and activists spoke about their experiences of sexual harassment, violence and intimidation at the ‘1000 Voices rally’.
Cllr Grace Fletcher-Hackwood, councillor for Fallowfield, said: “It’s not a compliment when I get shouted at in the street ‘nice tits shame about the face’.
“It seems strange that it only turns into a hate incident when they call me a dyke.”
In September, the government promised a review into hate crimes after Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, urged her colleagues to change the law.
Ms Creasy said: “[The review] is a big step towards calling time on street harassment and to saying misogyny isn’t an inevitable part of life women should put up with or all men commit, but something that damages our society and each of us can make sure is tackled.”
However, last week’s rally called for crimes against women to be classed as a hate crime before the review releases their findings in 2020.
In 2016, Nottinghamshire police launched a pilot scheme recording the harassment of women as a hate crime after a similar campaign by the Nottingham branch of Citizens UK.
Police in Nottinghamshire define misogyny hate crimes as “incidents against women that are motivated by the attitude of men towards women and includes behaviour targeted at women by men simply because they are women”.
Chief Constable Ian Hopkins and Greater Manchester Police were contacted for comment but did not respond.
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