
SNP ministers ditch plans for long-promised anti-women hatred law in major U-turn
NATS chiefs today ditched their long-promised anti-women hatred law and signalled they would introduce an offence covering prejudice against both sexes instead.
In a major u-turn after years of committing to a misogyny bill, SNP ministers confirmed it would be dropped in favour of expanding the controversial Hate Crime Act.
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MSPs pinned part of the blame on the Supreme Court judgement that sex in equality law is defined by biological sex
Credit: EPA
The plans would see the 'protected characteristic' of sex - meaning women or men - added to legislation which has been fully in place for just over a year.
It paves the way for crimes of stirring up hatred against men and women to be prosecuted, as well as added a sex-based 'aggravation' - a bolt-on for other offences, triggering stiffer punishment.
Freedom of speech protections about misogyny will also be added to the bill, protecting 'discussion or criticism'.
Ministers claimed a misogyny bill - recommended in a major review for the government by Baroness Helena Kennedy - would be too complex to finish within the remaining year of this parly session.
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A written statement to MSPs, released after the end of the parliamentary week, also pinned part of the blame on last month's landmark Supreme Court judgement that sex in equality law is defined by biological sex.
It said: 'This is a complex area of policy and law, and it would be necessary that any Bill which brought misogyny into criminal law contained clear and unambiguous provisions in regard to the circumstances in which they apply.
'This would include the implications of the recent Supreme Court Judgment.'
Last year the Scottish Government had insisted ministers would introduce a misogyny bill which would be 'the first of its kind in the world' to 'create a new focus on protecting women and girls to address criminal behaviour motivated purely by misogyny."
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The u-turn flies in the face of recommendations by Labour peer and human rights lawyer Baroness Kennedy KC's review of misogyny law.
Her report in 2022 concluded adding sex to the Hate Crime Act would not work as 'misogyny is so deeply rooted in our patriarchal ecosystem that it requires a more fundamental set of responses."
Maggie Chapman saved from AXE by SNP after accusing Supreme Court of 'bigotry & hatred'
It added a hate law was needed "exclusively for women" because "this malign conduct does not happen to men in any comparable way'.
At the time, Nicola Sturgeon said the report from Baroness Kennedy was 'ground-breaking', 'bold', and 'far-reaching'.
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The lawyer and peer said earlier this month that she was worried ministers would ditch her recommendations 'given the divisive nature of public debate around 'woke' issues.
She added: 'Protecting women and girls from abusive behaviour and threats of rape and violence, online and offline, is very important now.'
SNP ministers' latest position - adding a protected characteristic of 'sex' to current hate laws - is similar to the idea suggested by judge Lord Bracadale in his 2018 hare crime review for the Scottish Government. It floated an 'aggravation' in law based on 'gender hostility', rather than a specific protection for women.
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Nats chiefs today ditched their long-promised anti-women hatred law
Credit: Alamy

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Earlier this year, SNP activists said First Minister and party leader John Swinney's framing of the high-profile Hamilton by-election as a 'two-horse race' between the [[SNP]] and Reform UK helped clear a path for Labour's win – despite members warning party HQ ahead of time. The member added: that the leadership "has repeatedly failed to protect the women in their ranks from the relentless online abuse and harassment that continues to plague Scottish politics". They concluded: "A leadership that will no doubt, once again, dig in their heels and fail to shoulder the slightest semblance of responsibility for this latest avoidable failure. Mhairi is a particularly sore loss, and unless the SNP leadership changes course - she will not be the last." 'I'd be surprised if anyone so much as batted an eyelid' One female SNP candidate said that the party has done "the sum total of absolutely nothing" in trying to guide or support women when it came to online trolls, and that misogyny had played a part in Black's step back from politics. Black previously said she was regularly called a "wee boy" online while reading out some of the worst insults aimed at her in a powerful speech about the misogynistic insults. "Earlier this year, we saw unprecedented levels of our women MSPs standing down, all of them citing in large the same reason: the misogyny they faced while in office made it untenable for them to consider re-standing," the candidate said. "Now, it wouldn't be out of the question to expect the party of Government, and indeed the biggest party in Scotland, to take some sort of action to ratify this. While the party may not be directly at fault for the misogyny women experience (although even that statement is, at best, questionable) they do have a responsibility to support the women who take the decision to stand for election. "To ensure that when the inevitable trolls start harassing and bullying them online that they have tangible measures of support in place to help guide and support them. But what has the party done to support their women since, or indeed… ever? The sum total of absolutely nothing." The member then questioned what would the party do in light of Black's announcement, adding: "I'd be surprised if anyone so much as batted an eyelid". READ MORE: 'Is this real?!': America reacts to The National's viral front page "Apparently it would be far too much to expect those higher up to have the wherewithal to reach out to Mhairi, to learn about her experiences and to understand what could have been done to better support her through the years of abuse she faced. 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"I like politicians who are unafraid to be different, but at least someone like Margo McDonald stuck to it, clearly put a shift in and was committed - just feel it's been a massive let down off the back of something really exciting. "And don't get me started on the self-congratulating BBC documentary." President of GUSNA (Glasgow University Student Nationalist Association), which Black was a member of when elected in 2015, Alan Rubin Castejón said: "I'm deeply saddened to hear about Mhairi's decision. It's crucial that we have strong progressive voices within the party to ensure we stay true to our core values. "Mhairi has always been a tireless advocate for social justice and independence, and her departure highlights the importance of maintaining a clear, progressive direction for the SNP. "The party must remain committed to its founding principles, and it's voices like hers that ensure we don't lose sight of that." 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