The government should not rush to criminalise misogyny
by Carys Moseley, Christian Concern:
Last Saturday night’s events at Clapham Common have revealed a culture war over many issues including women’s safety, policing and the freedom to protest. At the heart of this is the desire in many quarters to make ‘misogyny’ a hate crime. The same people who are out protesting want to criminalise speech and define ‘women’ and ‘misogyny’ in gender-neutral terms. We need to stand back and evaluate the wisdom of all this.
Lockdown has bred fear
Lockdown policies are the framework behind the events. Lockdown has led to near-empty streets. It has also led to higher rates of domestic violence. This has in turn led to greater fear among some women. It has also led to spiralling mental health problems across the board. The rise of conspiracy theories since the lockdown one year ago is evidence of increasing paranoia among a large minority of the population.
Lockdown has led to inconsistent policing
By now, it is evident that inconsistencies in policing have characterised the last year of lockdown. Some protests have been policed in a stricter manner than others. Related to this, some types of protest have been reported more or less favourably in the press. Police officers now feel they are ‘damned if they do, damned if they don’t, because politicians appear to change their policies according to how the wind blows.
Many people have criticised the Met Police for not allowing the vigil requested by Reclaim These Streets to go ahead. Many have also criticised the Home Office for not allowing protests at all. At least we know that across the UK there were peaceful vigils to mark the death of Sarah Everard. However the culture wars spilling over from London affect us all.
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