The government is being urged to reclassify violence against women as a ‘hate crime’ in the wake of Vincent Tabak’s conviction for Jo Yeates’ murder in Bristol.<\/p>\n
After the trial, it was revealed that Tabak watched violent pornography before murdering the landscape architect next door.<\/p>\n
From Equality South West, Brenda Weston said: \u201cThree million women are victims of violence every year in the UK, targeted because of their sex, yet the crimes are recorded under numerous different categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf all domestic violence, rape, murder, stalking etc. against women were classified as \u2018hate crimes\u2019, it would allow the government to accurately monitor incidents and expressly reflect their prominence.<\/p>\n
\u201cLabelling them \u2018hate crimes\u2019 might even begin to change people\u2019s attitudes towards women, highlighting the problems faced by women, rather than normalising crimes against them.\u201d<\/p>\n