Volume XXII
Issue
2
Date
2021

The Case for the Increased Use of Hate Crime Laws to Prosecute Violence Against Women

by Jessica Mitten

The recent trend of amending hate crime laws to include gender presents a new opportunity for prosecutors to bring additional charges against offenders who commit violence against women. Hate crimes are crimes motivated in part or whole by the offender’s bias against a protected trait, but which traits are protected differs by jurisdiction. Despite the trend of including gender in the official definition, gender motivated hate crime laws are vastly underutilized in practice, and violence against women is rarely considered a hate crime by law enforcement and prosecutors.

Keep Reading: The Case for the Increased Use of Hate Crime Laws to Prosecute Violence Against Women