Islamophobia Hits British Muslim Women
“This is the first time Muslim women's voices have been given life in terms of anti-Muslim prejudice,” Fiyaz Mughal, from Faith Matters, which commissioned the report, told the Guardian on Wednesday, November 20.
“We keep hearing people saying: 'What are the numbers?' We can understand that, but it's important to recognize the actual impact on people.”
Looking beyond official statistics, the new study, Maybe We Are Hated, looked on the impact of Islamophobic attacks.
Written by Dr Chris Allen, a social policy lecturer at the University of Birmingham, it will be launched in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
In his study, Allen interviewed 20 women aged between 15 and 52 about their experiences, giving a voice to the female victims of Islamophobia.
Rachel, not her real name, is one of the women featuring in the report.
The 28-year-old Muslim woman 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, not her name, 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-defense 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."
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?"
The study found that leaving the mushrooming Islamophobic attacks would only give credence to the “clash of civilizations” narrative.
"It feeds into the rhetoric of the Islamists saying: 'No matter how hard you try, you will never belong here, they hate you," he said.
"When it comes to Muslims, they won't tackle these issues. It adds fuel to the fire."
Similar results were reported last March in a report by Tell Mama, a hotline for recording Islamophobic crimes and incidents.
The report found that, excluding online abuse and threats, 58% of all verified incidents between April 2012 and April 2013 were against women and that in 80% of those cases the woman was wearing a hijab, niqab or other clothing associated with Islam.
High-profile female targets have included communities minister Lady Warsi who was threatened online by an English Defence League (EDL) member.
Hostility against British Muslims, estimated at nearly 2.7 million, have been on the rise since 2005’s 7/7 attacks.
Police data shows that 1,200 anti-Muslim attacks were reported in Britain in 2010.
A Financial Times opinion poll showed that Britain is the most suspicious nation about Muslims.
A poll of the Evening Standard found that a sizable section of London residents harbor negative opinions about Muslims.
Source: On Islam
