The article recounts the reasons for the uneasy fit of gender as a status category and presents arguments both for and against inclusion of gender within the hate crime model. The article also examines the problem of gender essentialism, which results in the marginalization of the multiple category status of many women. The article argues that there is a case for gender fitting a hate crime paradigm. However, there is much room to debate when and how it should be incorporated into the violence against women movement. There is a danger that, in incorporating women into the hate crime paradigm, the model is stretched so thin that it collapses. The article concludes with the observation that only time and continued analyses will tell if the hate crime paradigm is an effective solution and strategy for combating violence against women rather than a symbolic gesture with few real protections. References, bibliography