Misogynistic Harassment: a stumbling block for Scots hate crime reform?

In 2020, the Scottish Government published the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. This legislation marks the most recent attempt to "reform" hate crime law in Scotland. Reform suggestions included adding a gender aggravator to the hate crime framework so as to capture instances of gender-based hate. The draft Bill instead left aside the issue of gender/sex-based hate, with government proposals focussing on a proposed stand-alone offence of misogynistic harassment.\ud \ud This article analyses the omission of gender in Scots hate crime including in the 2020 draft Bill—and assesses the proposed stand-alone offence of misogynistic harassment. In so doing, it highlights the shortcomings of the proposed legislation, outlining the significant implications for women of a continued failure to capture gender within the hate crime framework in Scots law.