British Muslim Women Face Higher Islamophobia Risk

London: Muslim women are more likely to be targeted by Islamophobic attacks, than men in Britain, according to a new study published recently. Chances of such attacks are more if they wear niqab, as stated in the “Maybe We Are Hated” report.
“This is the first time Muslim women’s voices have been given life in terms of anti-Muslim prejudice,” said Fiyaz Mughal from Faith Matters, the group which commissioned the study. The report by Chris Allen, a social policy lecturer at the University of Birmingham, was launched at the House of Commons. Allen interviewed 20 women aged between 15 and 52 about their experiences and believes that Islamophobia must be taken seriously. “It feeds into the rhetoric of the Islamists saying: ‘No matter how hard you try, you will never belong here, they hate you’. When it comes to Muslims, they won’t tackle these issues. It adds fuel to the fire,” he said.
Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), a hotline for recording Islamophobic crimes and incidents, found that, excluding online abuse and threats, 58 per cent of all verified incidents between April 2012 and April 2013 were against women. In 80 per cent of those cases, the woman was wearing a hijab or niqab.