London: After calling burqa-clad Muslim women ‘Letter Box’, the incidents of Islamophobic nature have increased in London.
Research Report
According to a recently conducted research study by a monitoring group “Tell Mama” that in 2018, the incidents of hatred against the Muslims increased after Boris Johnson made derogatory remarks against the burqa-clad Muslim women calling them ‘Letter Box’. He had written these comments in ‘Telegraph Daily’. The derogatory words, Mr. Johnson used were quoted often online.
Online abuse informed ‘Tell Mamma’ group that these words were sent to many Muslims. It is very surprising that the Conservative Party did not take any action against Mr Johnson for such remarks. On the other hand, some high profile personalities brushed it aside saying that it is a case of freedom of expression.
Labour shadow equalities secretary, Dawn Butler termed these incidents painful and said that it is shameful that such a person is now PM of UK.
Despite harsh criticism, Mr Johnson declined to apologize.
Here is a report of Monitoring Group “Tell Mama”
Last year, the majority of victims of Islamophobia were female (57%) and the majority of perpetrators were male (73%), Tell Mama report said.
Rise in Anti-Muslim Incidents: In the week following that article, Tell Mama said anti-Muslim incidents increased by 375% – from eight incidents the previous week, to 38 in the following.
Hate Incident on Niqaab Wear Women: Of the 38 anti-Muslim hate incidents, 22 were directed at Muslim women who wore the niqab, or face veil.
“Similarly, this year we analyzed the trends in verbal abuse, finding a common theme whereby perpetrators use language attacking Islam and religious practices alongside, for example, anti-Muslim hate incidents that range from abusive behaviour, discrimination, or threats” – Tell Mama reports.
The group added it should be noted that there were four major terrorist attacks in the UK in 2017, which led to sharp spikes of reported anti-Muslim hate incidents.
Over the three years to 2018, the group said it recorded a steady annual increase in street-based anti-Muslim incidents.
However, this year demonstrated an 11% reduction in street-based incidents compared with 2017.
In total, ‘Tell Mama’ recorded 1,072 verified anti-Muslim or Islamophobic reports. Of the 1,072 cases, 745 occurred at a street level and 327 were online.