Enlighten me, then. If rapists don’t do it for the sexual gratification, why do they do it? (It would help if you backed it up with a paper.)

I think you misunderstood me. You’re right that it is not the defendant’s word that matters when it comes to prosecuting hate crimes; what matters is their actual motivation. The question is this: does a rapist rape because of their misogyny, or is it merely the case that their misogyny is what allows them to rape? In…

Yeah, that’s what I meant. Rapists mostly do it for the sexual gratification, which for them is heightened by the power they feel.

Rockymountainrococo, what you seem to be missing is that the key distinction between a hate crime and a non-hate crime is motivation. Only when the crime was primarily motivated by hate against a group of people does a crime become a hate crime. Even if the perpetrator hates a group of people that the victim is a part…