Jess Bostock and Sylvie Pope – who have been campaigning for nearly three years – have been celebrating their achievements, as the UK government last week announced that it will ask the police to record crimes motivated by a person’s sex or gender.
Following the tragic death of Sarah Everard, Home Office Minister, Baroness Williams, last Wednesday declared that all police forces in England and Wales will be asked to record crimes caused by hostility based on sex or gender from autumn onwards, and this change is taking place while the government awaits the outcomes of the Law Commissions review of hate crime legislation.
Two graduates from @officialuom who founded the @MisogynyIsHate campaign in 2018 have been celebrating this week, as @govuk announced that the police will be asked to record crimes motivated by a person's sex or gender https://t.co/GHpEcN56lE
For Jess and Sylvie, this is a major step forward, as it brings them closer to their goal of ensuring that misogyny is classed as a hate crime, which will help to tackle male violence against women.
Having experienced unwanted sexual advances and everyday sexism herself, Sylvie Pope started the campaign to make misogyny a hate crime as leader of Greater Manchester Citizens Women’s Action Group back in 2018 – while still a Social Sciences student at The University of Manchester – and was inspired to take action after hearing about Nottingham Citizens, a group who had successfully campaigned to see Nottinghamshire Police become the first police force in the UK to record misogyny as a hate crime.
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The pair then brought together women from across Greater Manchester’s communities to form an alliance as part of Greater Manchester Citizens.
Community leaders from @GMCitizens launched this campaign in 2018, following calls from women across Manchester and in admiration of the successes of @NottinghamCitz (2)
Since forming, the team have campaigned relentlessly, running a series of action events, conducting research into misogyny in Greater Manchester, meeting with decision makers and sharing experiences of harassment, violence and hate.
Not only was their campaigning instrumental to the Law Commission’s review of hate crime legislation last week, but in 2020, following a number of consultations, the campaign gained the backing of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has recorded misogyny hate crime as a key policy in the ‘The Greater Manchester Strategy to Tackle Violence Against Women and Girls’.
“We are absolutely thrilled that women have been listened to, and that misogynistic crimes will be recorded.” Jess Bostock said.
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“Women from Greater Manchester and The University of Manchester have been campaigning around these issues for years [as] recording misogynistic hate crimes is a simple, yet necessary, step to better understand and map women’s experiences and ultimately to tackle misogyny and male violence against women.
“By mapping every woman’s story or report of a hate incident, we can pre-empt patterns of abuse and redistribute funding to vital community services.
“Recording where men are committing violence against women is just the start and there is so much more to be done.”
Hundreds of Citizens leaders from across five cities met with the @Law_Commission throughout 2019, sharing stories of everyday harassment and violence. These stories directly impacted the Commission's recommendation in 2020 to recognise misogyny hate crime legislation. pic.twitter.com/WzQWwVrPNY
Sylvie Pope added: “I chose to study in Manchester because it was the Suffragette City.
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“At the beginning of this campaign, I sat in a boardroom across from Mayor Andy Burnham and told him my story of misogyny [and] I’m incredibly proud of the hundreds of women who have since joined our campaign across Manchester and bravely told their stories.
“It’s a relief to hear that we’ve finally been listened to, and that this law change will impact millions of women and girls in our city as well as across the country”.
Street parties and Red Arrows fly-over planned for four-day VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations
Emily Sergeant
Street parties and fly-pasts by military aircraft including the famous Red Arrows are planned for the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Victory in Europe (VE Day) – which takes place on 8 May each year, and marks the Allied victory in Europe – resulted in millions celebrating the end of the war in 1945, with street parties, dancing and singing all across the country.
And now, 80 years later, similar events and celebrations are set to take place.
The commemorations set to take place over four days at the start of May will pay tribute to the millions of people across the UK and Commonwealth who served in the Second World War, telling the stories of those who fought, the children who were evacuated, and those who stepped into the essential roles on the Home Front.
On 8 May the nation will come together to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day
— Department for Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) March 5, 2025
The early May bank holiday on Monday 5 May will see the beginning of the events to mark VE Day 80, with events planned including a military procession, flypast of current and historic military aircraft, and the return of the poppies to the Tower of London.
Also on bank holiday Monday is when street parties, barbecues. and community get-togethers are being encouraged to be held by communities across the country to echo the celebrations 80 years ago.
The Government has also issued a nationwide call for families to ‘delve into their lofts’ and discover their own stories from the Second World War.
On actual VE Day itself, on Thursday 8 May, a service will take place at Westminster Abbey that the Government says will be both an ‘act of shared remembrance’ and a ‘celebration’ of the end of the war.
Street parties and a Red Arrows fly-over is planned for 80th anniversary celebrations of VE Day / Credit: Vicki Burton (via Flickr)
All the planned events will conclude with a concert at the historic Horseguards Parade, with more than 10,000 members of the public expected to attend, and well-known stars of stage and screen and military musicians set to perform.
“80 years ago, the freedoms we enjoy today were defended by our remarkable Second World War generation,” commented Defence Secretary John Healey MP as the planned celebrations were announced.
“Our duty today is to safeguard the British values they sacrificed so much to uphold.
“As we mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War, our grateful nation looks forward to joining our brave Armed Forces and veterans to reflect, rejoice and remember.”
Featured Image – Jason Garcia (via Flickr)
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Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has unfortunately been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’, according to a new analysis.
In recent months, Greater Manchester has been earning itself some rather impressive new titles, with wins across areas such as property prices, arts and culture, and so much more… but when you win some, it seems like you also lose some.
That’s because a data analysis of car theft statistics across the UK in 2024 has sadly seen Manchester named in the top 10 ‘hotspots’.
Although motor thefts were found to have decreased by 6% in the previous year, there was still a whopping 61,343 cars reported stolen to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in 2024, which marked the third-highest annual total in the past decade.
The number of car thefts in 2024 was actually more than twice the number recorded in 2015.
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’ / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Analysis of the data from This is Money and MailOnline, as shared by the RAC, highlighted that East London was the worst affected area in the UK, but Manchester wasn’t too far behind.
Manchester took the third spot on the top 10 list, with a total of 912 cars reported stolen in 2024 alone, while some of the other northern cities on the ranking include Leeds and Sheffield.
It comes as no surprise, however, that at the top of the list is the capital of London, with a shockingly-high 8,145 cars stolen last year.
Top 10 UK car theft ‘hotspots’ 2024
London – 8,145
Birmingham – 3,220
Manchester – 912
Leeds – 901
Sheffield – 899
Coventry – 862
Wolverhampton – 616
Leicester – 533
Walsall – 521
Bristol – 506
According to the analysis, there are several ways that criminals are choosing to steal cars nationwide, with one of the most popular being key cloning, where a thief creates a copy of a car’s key fob or key to gain access to the vehicle.
This technique is particularly common with modern cars that use keyless entry and push-to-start systems, which communicate with the car through radio signals.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd March 2021 
