Scottish government’s misogyny law scrapped

The government has officially blamed the delay in introducing its misogyny legislation on the Supreme Court case dealing with the definition of ‘woman’ despite the fact that that action has been going on for a number of years.

SNP backbenchers believe, however, that the legislation has effectively been scrapped.

“I don’t think we will be seeing hide nor hair of it again,” one backbencher said. “How can we legislate to criminalise misogyny when we can’t even agree what a woman is?

“It would open a whole can of worms which would be better left alone. I think the government knows it would be reckless to do that, especially in the run-up to an election.”

The law would have outlawed men’s “abusive and humiliating” behaviour, which it claimed prevents women “fully participating in society”.

Specifically, men loudly discussing sexual conquests in public, watching pornography where others could see it and shouting abusive comments at women would all become specific offences – despite the fact existing law deals with these incidents.

An offence of “stirring up” hatred of women would also be established and could be used against male supremacist bloggers or misogynistic online figures.

A Scottish government spokesman said: “With the Supreme Court still considering a case concerning the meaning of ‘woman’ under the Equality Act 2010, it will be important to consider any implications of that judgement before any legislation on misogyny is introduced.”