Police in Scotland are to review hate crime laws to make them “fit for purpose in the 21st century”.
A senior judge, Lord Bracadale, will undertake a year-long review of hate crimes in Scotland, which currently cover offences based on disability, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The review is understood to include an examination of whether wolf-whistling and cat-calling, as well as age-based insults, can be considered to be hate crimes.
This follows changes to policing in England, where some constabularies already treat wolf-whistling as a kind of hate crime.
Nottinghamshire police took the decision last year to treat misogynistic incidents as hate crimes, on the basis that victims are targeted purely because they are female.
Photo: Keystone / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Lord Bracadale said of the review: “I intend to meet key community representatives and those involved in applying the law, as well as carrying out a public consultation, to ensure that the views of those with a direct interest will be heard and considered as part of the review.”
Engender Scotland, an organisation working to fight sexism, said it was “looking forward to engaging with the review, because misogyny is not currently covered by existing hate crime and incitement to hatred legislation.”
News of the review was met with mixed reaction on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/MagnumP2/status/825188656944181249
Seriously, Wolf whistling a hate crime. The police here don't even want to come out for a burglary lol #thewrightstuff
— Cat 🐈 (@Zog_777) January 12, 2017
The PC brigade now want Wolf Whistling to become a hate crime . Unbelievable.
— Johnny Fantastic (@TrevorUdo) January 12, 2017
Adopting the brace position while watching another TV debate about whether wolf whistling is a hate crime
— Hannah Mason-Bish (@DrHannah) January 12, 2017
A survey of 16,000 women by Cornell University found that nine out of 10 women experience street harassment before they turn 17, with 90% of British respondents saying they’d experienced harassment between the ages of 11 and 17, higher than the international average.
