Speaking in the House of Lords, Home Office Minister Baroness Williams said "On an experimental basis we will ask police forces to record and identify any crimes of violence against the person including stalking and harassment, and sexual offences where the victim perceives it to have been motivated by a hostility based on their sex".

She said data collection would "help us find solutions" to the problem of violence against women and girls. However she added it was important "to ensure the law itself is coherent".

Responding to the announcement, Fawcett Society chief executive Felicia Willow said: "This is a major step forward in changing how we understand, address and prevent violence against women - and one that we hope will help change attitudes towards women.

If a woman "perceives" that she was raped because the rapist hates women, how the fuck does that help us "understand, address and prevent violence against women"?

Short of 'Minority Report' style pre-crime, which is fantasy anyway, this will do nothing positive and will further erode societal cohesion.