A Police Force in Britain Has Just Made WolfWhistling a Hate Crime
Wolf-whistling in some parts of the U.K. could now be considered a criminal offense after a police force in the English Midlands said it was recognizing misogyny as a hate crime in hope of encouraging more women to report incidents including verbal assaults and the sending of unwanted phone messages. A Nottinghamshire Police statement issued Wednesday says the force will prosecute as hate crimes incidents against women motivated by a man's attitudes toward women. "Examples of this may include unwanted or uninvited sexual advances physical or verbal assault unwanted or uninvited physical or verbal contact or engagement use of mobile devices to send unwanted or uninvited messages or take photographs without consent or permission," it says. The Guardian reports that the definition would include men wolf-whistling at a woman. A complaint from a woman elsewhere in England last year led to a building firm being investigated for sexual harassment by its workers. Chief Constable Sue Fish encouraged women to report misogynistic acts. "What women face, often on a daily basis, is absolutely unacceptable and can be extremely distressing," she says in the statement.