Scottish government drops plans for new misogyny law

Protesters at a UK Women's March in Edinburgh in January, highlighting a rise in misogyny

The Scottish government has confirmed it will not bring forward planned legislation to criminalise misogyny before next year's Holyrood election.

A bill has long been promised to improve protections for women and girls, but ministers now say there is not enough time to draw up a law which reflects the recent Supreme Court judgement on the definition of a woman.

They are instead going to amend existing hate crime legislation to provide protections on the basis of sex.

The government has also confirmed it will not be bringing forward legislation to end conversion therapy this term, and is hoping for a UK-wide solution.

A new misogyny law was promised after an expert group in 2022 backed separate legislation rather than incorporating abuse and violence against women into Scotland's hate crime law.

The group, led by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, said this was a better option because women are not a minority, and a "more fundamental set of responses" were required to address the "deeply rooted" problem.

The Scottish government proposed creating five new offences in its Misogyny Bill including stirring up hatred against women and misogynistic harassment.

Misogyny would also be treated as an aggravating factor in crimes, which could lead to tougher sentencing.

The Scottish government said it remained committed to ensuring people are protected from misogynistic abuse but it was a "complex area of policy and law" which required more time to work out where it would apply.

This would include assessing the implications of the recent Supreme Court judgement that a woman is defined by biological sex for the purposes of equality legislation, it said.

It said there was insufficient time to proceed with the bill in this parliamentary session, but in September it would add the protected characteristic of sex to Scotland's hate crime act.

First Minister John Swinney said: "We have to navigate a way through all of the issues that come out of the Supreme Court judgement.

"What action we can take is action we can take during this parliamentary term to tackle misogyny and that's what the government will do".

Conversion therapy

The Scottish government said it was also dropping plans for a new law banning conversion therapy for sexual orientation or gender identity.

Both pieces of legislation were part of the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Greens which ended in April last year.

Ministers previously said Scotland wanted to lead the way in outlawing such practices - but it has now urged the Labour government at Westminster to legislate on the issue.

Equalities Minister Kaukab Stewart said if an approach covering Scotland, England and Wales could not be agreed, the Scottish government would introduce its own law within a year if it remained in power after next year's Holyrood election.

A joint statement from Scottish LGBTQIA+ organisations said they were "incredibly disappointed" to see an end to conversion practices would not proceed - and that the community had felt rights were being "rolled back and reduced" for a long time.

The statement said: "Simply put, the longer it takes to legislate to end conversion practices the more harm will be done, including to those most vulnerable.

"The failure to progress this bill is yet another blow to our community's faith in government and the institutions that are meant to represent and protect us."

Publishing this news in a written question on a Friday morning after elections down south is a classic attempt from the Scottish government to bury some bad news.

In fairness, it is true to say that drawing up complicated legislation before the ink is even dry on a relevant Supreme Court's ruling would be a challenge in the remaining year of the Holyrood term.

But a bill can pass in a matter of days if the political will is there.

And women's groups are already deeply suspicious of the government, given it has spent the last few years engaged in court battle with campaigners about fundamental definitions.

Ministers will point to the move to beef up hate crime law as evidence they are taking action on behalf of women and girls - despite the fact they were originally omitted from that bill with the promise of bespoke legislation.

The point of this move is to get some awkward issues out of the way before John Swinney makes his programme for government speech next week about what he is planning on doing for the rest of the Holyrood term.

But for all he is keen to get away from spiky debates around gender politics - and you can read the shelving of the conversion therapy ban as part of that too - he is still going to face plenty of questions about this.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton MSP said the misogyny bill was the latest in a "litany of paused, ditched or botched" policies from Nicola Sturgeon's time as first minister.

She said: "Misogyny remains a serious problem and it's crucial that women and girls are protected from all forms of threatening and abusive behaviour in a way that safeguards their rights."

Scottish Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said: "This is the wrong thing to do.

"The proposed legislation was a chance to substantially improve protections, help change culture and behaviours and move us closer to eradicating misogyny."

'Screeching U-turn'

Scottish Labour justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said "This is a shameful broken promise to Scottish women at a time when misogynistic hatred is on the rise.

"The SNP has spent years kicking this issue into the long grass by insisting this approach wouldn't work, only to perform a screeching U-turn.

The Scottish Greens said dropping the two bills was a "shameful backward step".

The party's equalities spokesperson Maggie Chapman said: "The misogyny bill was a vital step in ensuring that reports of harassment and assault are taken seriously.

"LGBTQIA+ people are put at serious risk by cruel, harmful conversion practices that are currently flying under the radar. So-called conversion 'therapies' are deeply immoral and leave lasting damage for survivors."