
Boris Johnson recently infuriated UK Home Secretary Priti Patel by overruling attempts to make public sexual harassment a crime. This has further led to concerns at the Home Office that the Prime Minister views the issue as mere “wolf-whistling”, rather than the aggressive targeting of women and girls.
After he blocked plans to make public sexual harassment a specific offence, there have been reports of tensions between Johnson and Priti Patel.
Last week, Johnson announced that he did not support any new law on tackling violence against women as he claimed that there is “abundant” existing legislation.
The sources believe the prime minister has completely misjudged the public mood as Patel's consultation on tackling violence against women and girls, drew feedback from 180,000 contributors. The majority were sent after the murder of Sarah Everard in March.
Also, many respondents complained of being hassled daily.
A senior Home Office source, who requested anonymity, was quoted by The Guardian as saying, "Trying to bring it down to wolf-whistling is massively problematic. But we’re going to make this happen. People are prepared to put their political capital behind this, and the home secretary is among those very much behind it.”
Another source said the prime minister seemed not to understand the issue.
“Make no mistake, Boris Johnson is the person blocking and holding this back. He seems to be stuck in the past on this issue," the source was quoted by The Guardian.