Muslim women are more likely to be subjected to Islamophobic attacks than men, especially if they are wearing the niqab or other clothing associated with their religion, a study has found.
Maybe We Are Hated, a report on the impact of Islamophobic attacks, written by Dr Chris Allen, a social policy lecturer at the University of Birmingham, will be launched in the House of Commons on Wednesday. It is intended to look beyond the statistics and, for the first time, give a voice to the female victims of Islamophobia.
One of the women featuring in the report, Rachel, 28, was run over by a man after she asked him to move his car, which was blocking the drive of her house. Before attacking her, he said: “I’m gonna pop you, Muslim.”
In another case, four decomposing pigs’ heads were placed outside a woman’s house. Shareefa, 33, told how she was repeatedly abused by a group of young people calling her names such as “ninja” and had fireworks posted through the letterbox of her home.
“I was scared to go out on the street or into the area on my own,” she told Allen. “It made me think continuously that I need some sort of self-defence class so I know now to defend myself and protect my children. You start linking everything as being anti-Muslim, and that may well not be the case. For example, some people give you a look, which may be nothing.”
Allen interviewed 20 women aged between 15 and 52 about their experiences. One was called “Mrs Osama bin Laden” and told to “go back to Afghanistan” while at the gym. Another, on her way home after dropping her children at school, was followed by a woman with a pushchair, who spat in her face and asked her: “Why do you look so ugly? Why are you covering your face?”
Racists vandals sprayed vehicles, homes, and businesses in a mile-long spree across part of Blackburn at the weekend.
A clutch of British National Party supporters have gathered outside the Old Bailey, replete with black banners and images of the hangman’s noose, demanding the restoration of the death penalty for soldier Lee Rigby’s alleged killers.
With Mehdi Hasan as its political editor, the Huffington Post UK has generally played a positive role in exposing the violent bigotry of the English Defence League.
