Legislate crimes motivated by misogyny are hate crimes, fund support & training
114,927 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 2 December 2025; it closed on 2 June 2026. The Government responded on 11 March 2026. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 7 September 2026.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Legislate crimes motivated by misogyny are hate crimes, fund support & training
The Government should amend the Sentencing Act 2020 to record crimes motivated by misogyny as hate crimes and introduce tougher laws for online abuse, and fund the training of police and prosecutors, and support for survivors in education.
We want the Government to tackle anti-feminist hate groups that target and radicalise young people online. Many young women, especially students, face harassment, assault, and online abuse. Misogyny can fuel this violence, yet we believe current laws fail to address it directly. Recognising misogyny as a hate crime could protect victims, deter offenders, and send a clear message that gender-based hostility is unacceptable. It could also validate survivors’ experiences and help create safer environments in education and online, where young people are most vulnerable.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 11 March 2026; the petitions site lists the Home Office as responsible. Its summary:
The Government has tabled an amendment at Lords Report Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill to extend the aggravated offences in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
The opening 395 words of the 530-word response:
Hate crime legislation in England and Wales covers five protected characteristics: race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability. Sex, or presumed sex, has not previously been covered, meaning that ‘misogyny’ currently falls outside the scope of the hate crime legislative framework.
Under the proposed amendment, sex will be added to the list of protected characteristics under the aggravated offences in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, ensuring that offences motivated by hostility towards someone’s sex or presumed sex can be charged as aggravated where the evidence supports it. This amendment delivers the Government’s manifesto commitment to level up protections by expanding the aggravated offence framework so that hostility based on sexual orientation, disability, transgender identity, or sex or presumed sex attracts the same penalties as offences motivated by racist or religious hatred, thereby creating parity across protected characteristics.
Aggravated offences are crime types such as assault, criminal damage, harassment, stalking and certain public order offences where it can be proven that the offender was motivated by hostility towards a protected characteristic. These offences carry higher maximum sentences than their non‑aggravated equivalents. The offences mirror the (non‑hate crime) equivalents already covered under sections 28-32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. No new criminal offences are being created; the amendment simply extends the existing aggravated versions to additional protected characteristics.
The Government keeps hate crime legislation under review, strengthening it where necessary to protect those most at risk. As part of this ongoing commitment to ensuring the framework remains robust the Home Secretary announced the Independent Review of Public Order and Hate Crime following the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester in October 2025.
The purpose of the Review is to test whether public order and hate crime law remains fit for purpose, assess whether thresholds and safeguards are right and effective, and recommend reforms that improve consistency, protect rights and reassure affected communities. The Review is due to report its findings by the end of March.
Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government. “Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls”, published on 18th December 2025, sets out the strategic direction and concrete actions to prevent violence and abuse, pursue perpetrators, and support victims, and to deliver our unprecedented commitment to halve VAWG in a decade.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies. Measured against each constituency's electorate at the 2024 general election, the most came from Islington South and Finsbury, with 42.0 signatures per 1,000 electors (3,110 in all).
112,559 of the signatures were from the UK and 2,368 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures | Electorate, July 2024 | Per 1,000 electors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Islington South and Finsbury | 3,110 | 74,122 | 42.0 |
| Cities of London and Westminster | 1,190 | 73,369 | 16.2 |
| Manchester Withington | 1,035 | 70,555 | 14.7 |
| Brighton Pavilion | 464 | 74,786 | 6.2 |
| Liverpool Riverside | 445 | 71,380 | 6.2 |
| Leeds Central and Headingley | 432 | 70,554 | 6.1 |
| Manchester Central | 448 | 85,204 | 5.3 |
| Sheffield Central | 294 | 60,594 | 4.9 |
| York Central | 372 | 79,557 | 4.7 |
| Manchester Rusholme | 328 | 72,608 | 4.5 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| London | 19,114 |
| South East | 14,529 |
| North West | 12,712 |
| East of England | 9,460 |
| South West | 8,726 |
| Scotland | 8,457 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 8,296 |
| West Midlands | 8,165 |
| East Midlands | 6,896 |
| Wales | 4,738 |
| North East | 3,594 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,489 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 7 September 2026. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/746640.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
ef4cffff7afc7c3e… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.