Wolf whistling and other forms of street harassment are set to be made punishable by up to two years in prison - and claiming it’s a joke or a compliment won't help people avoid prosecution. Home Secretary Suella Braverman is expected to toughen a proposed new street harassment law so that potential offenders can't make excuses by claiming they did not realise their behaviour amounted to harassment.
The House of Commons was due to receive the bill for its final report stage on Friday (March 24). It will reportedly make it an offence to cause "intentional harassment, alarm or distress" to a person in public based on their sex and any offenders found guilty could face up to a maximum jail sentence of two years, Lancs Live reports.
Campaigners had claimed there was a loophole in the proposals that would let offenders escape prosecution by claiming they thought their behaviour was welcome, even if any other reasonable person felt it was not. The Home Secretary is backing an amendment that will close the loophole after accepting their concerns by requiring a “reasonableness test” where a defendant “ought to know” their behaviour amounted to harassment.
This means anyone who catcalls, wolf-whistles or makes a pass or sexual comment towards a woman that a “reasonable” person would feel amounts to harassment will no longer be able to claim it was meant as a compliment or joke. Police will be issued with guidance so they can enforce the law.
Mrs Braverman told The Telegraph: "Women have the fundamental right to walk the streets without fear and I’m committed to ensuring that criminals who intimidate and harass them face the consequences. This is why we are backing the Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Bill, and after carefully considering a range of views, we are supporting an amendment that will require the Government to produce statutory guidance for the police to help them enforce the new offence.
"The new guidance will clarify in particular how the ‘reasonable conduct’ defence should be interpreted, to ensure any new law is as robust as possible."
Labour MP Stella Creasy, who played a key part in supporting the Bill, said: "Women and girls often get told ‘you can’t take a joke’ or ‘it was just a compliment’ when they object to being harassed, but without change this public order law risks making that an actual defence to a criminal offence. In this day and age, most know better than to try to grope or harass a woman as a way of chatting her up – but not all do.
"No one should be able to evade accountability for such behaviour by arguing they thought it was reasonable to abuse someone because it was their way of trying to attract attention. So it’s good that the Government has listened to the need to address this loophole.
"To make it work, it’s vital the police and prosecutors are given training to understand how serious public harassment is and to use this new law to ensure everyone can walk freely on our streets and public spaces without being abused."
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