Misogyny should become a hate crime and taking photos up women’s skirts be made illegal, a major report into the way the legal system protects women has recommended.

The report, which is the conclusion of the Fawcett Society’s sex discrimination law review (SDLR) panel, chaired by retired high court justice Dame Laura Cox and made up of legal experts and representatives from trade unions and campaign groups, has found that the legal system was failing women and needed fundamental reform.

It has made a series of recommendations, including strengthening the law on sexual harassment at work so that women are protected not just from other employees but from third parties such as customers, service users or contractors.



The report also suggests making any breach of a domestic abuse order a criminal offence, reviewing the law on the admissibility of previous sexual history evidence in rape cases, and strengthening the definition of revenge porn.

The panel have called for the act of taking surreptitious pictures up skirts or down tops to be made a criminal offence across the UK, as it already is in Scotland.

In September, the justice secretary, David Lidington, told MPs he was considering this following a campaign by Gina Martin, who alleges that a man took a photo up her skirt at a music festival. Police were unable to take the case further.



At the time, Lidington said he had taken Martin’s campaign “very seriously” and consulted with police and crime commissioners. He said: “I have asked for detailed advice on this. Before proceeding to a commitment to new legislation, I want to be absolutely certain that this would be the right course to take.”

However, on Monday night and in response to the Fawcett Society’s report, a Ministry of Justice spokesman suggested new legislation was not required as offenders could already be prosecuted using legislation on voyeurism, public decency and public order.

He said: “This behaviour is a violation of privacy and causes considerable distress for victims. Prosecutors have a range of powers to deal with these cases. We continue to keep legislation under constant review to ensure we can bring offenders to justice.”

Sam Smethers, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said technology meant women were experiencing sexual harassment in new ways and that legislation needed to respond.

She said: “It’s really important with upskirting, which is seen as a casual and funny thing, that we actually do take it seriously, because it’s an incredible invasion of personal privacy. It’s humiliating for them and it’s fundamentally unacceptable.

“Scotland is ahead of [England and Wales] and we really should be following their lead. We recognise that some offences are more difficult to enforce than others, but it’s important that women have confidence in the law and that the law is behind them.”

She added: “As it stands, and when you take a step back and look at the law and see how all of this adds up, the legal system is fundamentally failing women at every turn. It’s time to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”

The provisions for third-party harassment provisions in the Equality Act were repealed in 2013 as a result of the red tape challenge, a government initiative to cut unnecessary regulations.

Smethers said: “We’re in this culture where everybody is now talking about sexual harassment, so it seems absolutely indefensible to be in a situation that someone who you are serving a drink to in a bar or even working alongside you but employed by a different employer, your employer has no responsibility.

“We have to change that. It’s not acceptable because employers do have a duty of care to their staff. So many services are now contracted, out so these situations are on the rise.”

Cox, who said the the evidence they received was “deeply disturbing”, said the time had now come for a greater responsibility and accountability to be placed on to organisations to prevent harassment and discrimination in the first place.

“If we believe that gender equality is good for business, then we must also believe that discrimination and harassment are bad for business,” she said. “The chances are this will be happening to some extent in most workplaces, so let’s move towards proactive action and require employers to do something about it.”