Tell the London Met Police to record misogynistic hate crimes!

Misogynistic crimes (criminal offences motivated by prejudice against women) can be treated as hate crimes under existing laws, but these crimes are only recorded by five police forces in the UK. [source]

This petition demands that the Metropolitan Police in London join other forces in taking misogynistic hate crime seriously, by recording these crimes and reporting on their prevalence.

What difference does it actually make to have incidents identified as misogyny or a hate crime?

Melanie Jeffs - Manager of Nottingham Women's Centre: "...in terms of recognition that these incidents are not acceptable. Women told us that they felt before that these were things that you just put up with as a woman—they were just part of being a woman and that you grew up understanding that you just had to deal with it. The police taking this stance means that in Nottinghamshire women can have the confidence not only to recognise that it is not okay but to report it through to the police and feel that it will be taken seriously." [Source]

All police forces should be required to record incidents of misogyny as a hate crime.

Please sign now to demand that the Met Police begin recording misogynistic hate crimes as such. This is entirely possible as shown by other forces, and makes a real difference to local women as they are made aware that they don't need to accept this behaviour. It also sends a strong message to men that this behaviour is illegal and unacceptable.

Further info:

The police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have adopted a central definition of hate crime, as set out in the CPS Hate Crime Annual Report 2016-17 which sets out five characteristics – race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender status. These are the only centrally monitored strands of hate crime.

Criminal offences motivated by characteristics such as sex, age or appearance - can also be treated as hate crimes, but are not centrally monitored as such.