Aylesbury Liberal Democrats: Recognise misogyny as a hate crime

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he didn't want to make misogyny a hate crime, Aylesbury Liberal Democrats have called on the Conservative government to show they are taking violence against women and girls seriously

When it is estimated that 66% of young women and girls have been harassed in public, and with reports of rape, gendered and sexual violence continuing to rise, it is simply unacceptable that convictions for sexual violence are at a record low.

Only 2.4% of rape cases end in conviction and out of 139,000 rapes estimated by the ONS, only 58,848 were reported to the police in 2019/20.

Tens of thousands of women report crimes to the police each year which are motivated by misogyny, but they are not recorded as such. As the law stands, women are unprotected by the failure to classify misogyny.

Unlike the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats have a clear plan to tackle violence against women and girls. At the recent Liberal Democrat Conference, the party passed a motion which called on the Government to -

• Take immediate action on sexual harassment in school by consulting with education leaders and putting sexual harassment guidance onto the national curriculum.
• Bring justice to victims of sexual assault by urgently increasing funding to reduce criminal and family backlogs.
• Put legislation in place which makes public sexual harassment a criminal offence and makes Female Genital Mutilation a hate crime.

You can read the full detailed breakdown of the party's plans at libdems.org.uk/f46-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls.

Commenting on the Liberal Democrat Proposals, Aylesbury Town Councillor Sherrilyn Bateman said :

"As the recent high profile cases of Sarah Everard and Sabina Nessa show us, misogyny and violence against women and girls is an epidemic in this Country."

"Not even our school children are safe from this crisis, with a third of 16-18 year old girls reporting unwanted sexual touching at school."

"These crimes cannot be allowed to continue. We have a duty to women and girls and we must all be able to live in a free and safe society without fear of attack."

"The Conservatives have shown an absolutely shocking lack of responsibility in allowing this level of violence against women and girls in our society. The Government must recognise misogyny as the hate crime it is and take the necessary actions to tackle it head on."

"In 2021, misogyny cannot be tolerated anymore. It is time for a culture change."