Hi everyone.
This one seems to be going under the wire. There is an APPG on Hate Speech/Crime but the news doesn't seem to have been spread to women and feminists, even though there is the possibility of misogyny being categorised as a hate crime www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/09/uk-police-chiefs-urged-to-adopt-harassment-of-women-as-hate
Here is the wording of this www.appghatecrime.org/inquiries/ link:
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Inquiries
The APPG on Hate Crime has launched an inquiry entitled, “How do we build community cohesion when hate crime is on the rise?”. We invite submissions of written evidence on this topic and we will be holding open sessions for further information in due course. The findings will be published in a public report at the end of the year, (2018).
What the APPG Inquiry aims to achieve
The APPG Inquiry aims to gather evidence of how hate speech and hate crime impact on communities, and to provide detailed recommendations on how community cohesion can be strengthened in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech.
The APPG explicitly focuses on all strands of hate crime and speech (race, sexual orientation, religious, disability, transgender [sex needs to be in here]*), and we are particularly keen on teasing out common themes, as well as potential divergences between the various hate crime strands.
To do this, the APPG invites submissions whilst considering the following questions:
Status Quo – What is the situation today?
What is the extent of hate crime and speech that is experienced by individuals or communities and what form does it take?
How does experiencing hate crime and hate speech impact on individuals, communities and their values?
How does online hate speech and hate crime impact on community cohesion? Is there a link?
How does hate crime and hate speech contribute to extremism, including intra-community sectarianism?
How does hate speech and bullying impact children and young people in schools and educational institutions?
How does hate speech impact on the emotional and mental-health of individuals who are targeted at a street and online level?
Recommendations – What can we do to build community cohesion?
Best practice: What schemes, initiatives and projects exist to build community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?
What can national and local government do to increase community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?
What role do police forces play in increasing community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech? Are there practical examples of their work, say after major terrorist attacks when cohesion may be affected?
What role can community organisations, charities and others play to increase community cohesion in the face of rising hate crime and hate speech?
Are there projects that help individuals to support their emotional, mental health and practical needs when they are targeted online and offline?
How the APPG will gather evidence
The APPG is interested to hear from experts, practitioners, victims and their representative organisations, as well as academics and others with an interest in and knowledge of the topic.
Submissions should:
Be no more than 2,500 words in length.
Clearly state who they are from and whether they are sent in a personal capacity or sent on behalf of an organisation, and include a brief description of the submitting individual/organisation
Be emailed to [email protected]
The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, 25th July 2018.
Based on the received evidence, individuals and organisations will be invited to give further evidence during an open meeting of the APPG.
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It is vital that women and feminists submit evidence to this APPG. The slur 'T' is known to incite people to act hatefully towards feminists. When Maria MacLachlan was attacked by an individual who had just said prior they were going to "fuck up some Ts" the police officer felt that this should have been treated as a hate crime.
Imagine if someone had been filmed thumping someone of African heritage after saying they were going to 'fuck up some 'racist term of abuse', how about if someone was filmed thumping a gay man after tweeting they were going to 'fuck up some 'homophobic term of abuse'. It would be taken seriously, would never be dismissed as 'bravado. Why are women, feminist women in particular, not offered the same protection by hate crime law?
How many women feel unable to fully participate in our communities because we are afraid of misogynist assault?
How many women are afraid to attend political meetings because of anti-feminist harassment and assault?
How many women have anxiety, depression and other ill effects from misogyny and antifeminism?
How about the other end of Hate Crime/Speech? It is being used to specifically silence and harass women, feminist women in particular by proxy. Why was Posie Parker questioned for Hate Speech? How about Linda Bellos?
We need to submit evidence to this APPG pronto to make sure this does not happen - that Hate Crime law is not used maliciously to hurt women, particularly feminist women, or those assumed to be feminist.
Please could you join me on this thread to discuss what the key issues are so we can submit strong evidence, drawing on our personal experience to make sure we are not forgotten in the APPG and to make sure this is not going to be a way of making 'deadnaming' and 'misgendering' hate crimes where we can be lawfully punished, even imprisoned for stating facts or describing reality. This APPG is already known about widely in authoritarian, bullying ideological circles who seek to suppress free speech- so the submissions so far are likely to be very skewed in their favour.
Thanks.
*my addition