Question
My constituent, Mackenzie, who is a pupil at Peter Symonds sixth-form college in Winchester and is here in the Gallery today, has been campaigning really hard on the issue of catcalling and the intimidation and abuse of women in public spaces. Would the Minister mind laying out what support we are giving, and what we are doing to address the intimidation of women in public spaces?
Answer
I thank the hon. Gentleman’s constituent and welcome her to this place. I applaud her campaigning on this really important issue. The Government are determined to tackle misogyny wherever it exists, and the hon. Gentleman will be aware that, in the Budget, the Chancellor announced £15 million of support for the Minister for Women and Equalities’ misogyny taskforce to tackle these issues head-on. Earlier today, I had the privilege of attending the first cross-departmental ministerial taskforce on this issue, looking at how best we can tackle misogyny wherever it occurs, because we know that misogyny is the issue that radicalises and causes extremism in the issue of violence against women and girls.29% vibes
Verdict: AMBER (33/100)
The reply points to £15 million for a misogyny taskforce and a cross-departmental ministerial taskforce, which is concrete, but it treats misogyny in general rather than catcalling or intimidation of women in public spaces specifically. The commitment to act on misogyny "wherever it occurs" is broad and does not describe any measure aimed at public-space intimidation. The reply is therefore only partly responsive, and most of it is hedged, so the person who asked would likely need to follow up for specifics.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What support is the Government giving on catcalling and the intimidation and abuse of women in public spaces? | Partially Addressed | Direct | The reply names concrete support (£15 million for the misogyny taskforce and a cross-departmental ministerial taskforce), but it frames this as tackling misogyny generally rather than catcalling or intimidation in public spaces specifically, so the link to the item's actual subject is only implied. |
| What is the Government doing about the intimidation of women in public spaces? | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply says the government is determined to tackle misogyny 'wherever it occurs' and that a taskforce is looking at it, which gestures at the topic but never specifically describes any action on intimidation of women in public spaces. |