Gender-Based Hate Crimes: A Contested Socio-Legal Terrain

Across the UK, socio-political debates are ongoing around whether to formally recognise gender-based hate crime. Consultations have determined that gender hostility is on par with bias or prejudice towards race, religion, sexual identity, disability, and transgender identity. Reasons for its continued exclusion include potential overlaps with existing gender-based violence laws, definitional difficulties regarding gender-based hate crimes, and evidential complexities in demonstrating gendered hostility. More recently, hate crime debates have focused more specifically on the potential inclusion of misogyny and misogynistic violence. This chapter explores the separate political paradigms of gender-based violence, hate crime, and misogyny to examine the cultures of prejudice fuelling hatred towards women.