I firmly believe there is a need for a long overdue change in the law so that misogynistic acts are treated as the serious hate crimes they are. It is very concerning that, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, there were 67,000 gender hate incidents in 2018, with 57,000 of these targeted at women. The scale of misogyny in our society must no longer be tolerated.

Several police forces have started to record misogyny as a hate crime, which is enabling valuable data to be collected. While I am pleased to see these local initiatives, I believe all police forces should be required to record this information. This would be a step forward as it would give us a better understanding of the forms of violence and abuse that women experience.

I was very happy to learn that the House of Lords voted to make misogyny a hate crime during the 3^rd Reading of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. However, this week the Home Secretary announced that it will reject the Lords’ amendment to make misogyny a hate crime. It is shameful that this government is still refusing to make violence against women and girls a strategic policing requirement so it has the same prominence as tackling organised crime.

What’s more, the Home Secretary is still refusing to establish specialist rape units in every police force area or minimum sentence for rape and stalking, and shockingly is still resisting Labour’s proposals for action against landlords who pressurise tenants into sex for rent.

When the Bill returns to the Commons next week, I will be pressing the Government to drop its poorly thought-out proposals and instead work across the political divide to tackle violence against women and other key issues.

I want the UK to be the best place in the world for young girls and women to grow up. I want them to be safe and secure at home, at work, in education and out and about in the community. Sadly, this is not the reality and the Tory government continues to let women down every day. The Labour Party has a concrete and detailed plan ready to tackle the misogynist attitudes and violence against women in our society.