Guest post by Craig Smith, lecturer in law at the University of Salford
Smith: Framework is not fully coherent
Recent reforms introduced by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 mark a significant development in hate crime law in England and Wales.
For the first time, hostility related to sex is recognised within the framework of aggravated offences, representing an important shift in how the criminal law conceptualises and responds to this form of offending.
The legislation does not refer to misogyny. Instead, it adopts the broader and legally neutral concept of hostility related to sex, which applies to both men and women. In practice, however, the reform sits squarely within ongoing debates about how the law should respond to misogyny and violence against women and girls.
At a structural level, the reform amends the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 by expanding the definition of “aggravated” offences.
Historically, aggravated offences were limited to hostility based on race or religion. Other characteristics – disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity – were addressed separately through sentencing provisions, now consolidated in section 66 of the Sentencing Act 2020.
The 2026 Act extends the aggravated offence framework beyond this earlier model. It brings disability, sexual orientation and transgender identity into the core offence structure, moving beyond reliance on sentencing uplift alone.
It also introduces sex as a recognised form of hostility, albeit in relation to specified offences such as assault, harassment and criminal damage.
In one sense, this reform resolves a long-standing inconsistency. The absence of sex from hate crime law has been widely criticised, particularly in light of increasing concern about gender-based harassment and abuse. Its inclusion brings the law closer to reflecting contemporary social and political priorities.
Yet the reform does not produce a fully coherent framework. The inclusion of sex is limited in scope and does not operate on identical terms to other characteristics.
The result is a model that is more inclusive than before but still structurally uneven. This is best understood as a deliberate legislative compromise, rather than a comprehensive redesign of hate crime law.
That compromise is particularly striking when set against the position of the Law Commission. In its 2021 review, the commission considered the inclusion of sex but ultimately recommended against it, citing concerns about legal coherence, prosecutorial complexity, and whether hate crime law was the appropriate mechanism for addressing issues such as misogyny.
Parliament’s decision to proceed nonetheless represents a clear departure from expert advice and reflects the influence of broader social and political pressures on the direction of reform.
In practical terms, the legislation enables certain offences to be prosecuted as aggravated by hostility related to sex, carrying higher maximum sentences and formally recognising the role of such hostility in offending.
It may also contribute to improved victim confidence and reporting, particularly in cases involving gender-based harassment. However, its practical significance will depend on how consistently these provisions are interpreted and applied by police, prosecutors and the courts.
More fundamentally, the reform does not resolve a deeper conceptual question: whether hate crime law is the appropriate vehicle for addressing misogyny.
Academic commentary has long emphasised that gender-based violence is often rooted not simply in hostility, but in power, control and structural inequality. These dynamics are not fully captured by a framework that focuses on demonstrable hostility or motivation.
The inclusion of hostility related to sex within aggravated offences is therefore both legally significant and conceptually incomplete. It addresses a clear gap in the existing framework, while leaving unresolved questions about coherence, scope and the limits of hate crime law itself.
Its ultimate significance will depend not only on legislative design, but on how the concept of sex-based hostility is understood and applied in practice.