Should there be a hate crime specific to criminal attacks against women?

Question

How many of you remember those elementary school shootings from last year? What most media coverage neglected to point out was how both shooters - adult men - specifically and purposefully targeted little girls. We seem oddly comfortable in this culture with the idea that victims are women, and perpetrators are men. Should that change? Should we force ourselves to be shocked by that? Aren't we shocked by that?

Answer 1

If he had targeted them solely because they were female à la Marc Lepine, then it might count as a hate crime. But I don't think that was this guy's motivation.

Answer 2

a crime is still a crime no matter who it is against ,  I seen on tv  where they were talking about stopping black on black crime , shouldn't it be all crime  or do they think black on white crime is okay ...now you ask about making it more of a crime if it's against  women ....so can I make it more of a crime if it's against left handed  men

Answer 3

Absolutely not.

Hate crime should not exist in the law, it implies (if not flagrantly states) that an activity against one group is less a crime and less serious than the same activity against another group, and should be treated differently.

That is the very definition of discrimination.

Answer 4

I have always wondered why stranger rape was not considered a hate crime.  The victim is targeted for assault simply because they are part of a group - women.  The crime fits all of the requirements of the Hate Crime Bill.  I guess it will take a clever Prosecutor to make the connection.

Answer 5

Absolutely. There's so much hatred directed at women because they are women - especially those who go against conventions. Look at all the Clinton haters ("Iron my shirt!")

Answer 6

A crime is a crime, period.

Answer 7

First - No one is comfortable with female victims / male perpetrators!

       However, justice is not designed to assure “Psychologic well being” and punish people for their thoughts. Who defines “good” vs “bad” thoughts? Crimes against g**s were not hate crimes but today they are. So Hate Crimes are really just Mob Justice – what majority think is “good” is legal, but what majority thinks is “bad” is a crime.  Wouldn’t Adolf be pleased . . .

     A crime occurs when someone physically or financially damages another - there are already laws against that.

     I may hate Green people and then kill one, but my hate is not the intent - my wanting to kill one is the intent (or is that too simple to understand!).

Answer 8

More shocked by that than any other vicious murder? A person is a person. If you make all violence against women a "hate crime", aren't you placing a higher value on the life of a woman than a man? Murder is murder, assault is assault. All should be punished equally since all victims are equally human.

Answer 9

I know me being a guy has some importance in this topic. But I actually agree with the other guy. Just because guys do crimes against females doesn't necessarily mean that they should be considered crimes of hate. The same goes to women. We are both treated in all matters as equals and a change of that would change the equality we live under.

Answer 10

Any crime is a hate crime when it is fueled by hate. So if someone hates women and deals with this by shooting girls, it's a hate crime. If someone hates men and deals with it by shooting boys, it's a hate crime. There has to be some form of motive or reasoning behind it. If it was a fairly arbitrary or aesthetic choice (twisted... but we're talking killers here) then it's a crime, but not a hate crime.

I think they're likely to get the same sentence anyway.

Men are more likely statistically to be the victem of violent crime (various reasons for this, but that's beside the point) - I don't think we have many ingrained ideas about victems, especially of shootings. If we do, we should probably aim to remove these preconceptions. We can only deal with each case as it comes, not in light of all other cases, plus preconceptions mean people might not be treating some cases as seriously as others.

Answer 11

I don't think anything should be considered a "hate" crime. It speaks to motive.  Murder is murder.  Rape is rape.  Vandalism is vandalism.  Let the punishment fit the crime, not the motive.

Answer 12

We don't need any special "hate crime" laws.  It's illegal to shoot someone, regardless of s*x.  I don't think anyone is comfortable with little girls being victims of lunatics.  I, personally, am horrified by crimes against any child, and don't see why a criminal should receive lesser punishment, if they killed little boys.  That's ridiculous.

Answer 13

I think it would be just as bad if two women shot girls, or two men shot boys, or two women shot boys, or anybody shooting anybody.  It's a horrible thing any which way, I'm not sure what your point is.