Misogyny 'could be made a hate crime'

Misogyny could become a hate crime across England and Wales after police launched a series of investigations into verbal harassment and unwanted advances.

Nottingham police launched more than 20 investigations into sexist abuse in two months as part of a trial crackdown on sexism.

The experiment, which saw a case investigated every three days, involved specially trained officers targeting "sexist" crimes.

Several other police forces have now said they want to speak to Nottingham police to discuss the introduction of misogyny as a hate crime alongside anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Dave Alton, the hate crime manager for Nottingham police, said: “The number of reports we are receiving is comparable with other, more established, categories of hate crime.