Gender and Anti-Muslim Hate Crime

• In Event: Roundtable: Examining the Place of Gender Within Hate Crime Law: An International Discussion

Abstract

Anti-Muslim hate crime has increased significantly in the West following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the US and 7/7 in the UK. Terrorist attacks carried out by individuals who identify themselves as being Muslim or acting in the name of Islam – such as the Woolwich attack in the UK, the atrocities committed by ISIS and attacks around the world such as Paris, Tunisia, Copenhagen and Sydney have induced a significant increase in Muslims’ online and offline experiences of anti-Muslim hate crime. In particular, Muslim women with a ‘visible’ Muslim identity (e.g. wearing a veil) are more vulnerable to intimidation and abuse in the cyber world but also in ‘real’ life. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attacks), veiled Muslim women are more likely to suffer online and offline attacks due to intersections between a range of identity characteristics including religion, gender, race/ethnicity, dress, disability, body shape and size. Internationally, hate crime law ignores the pertinent intersectional issues for gender and anti-Muslim hate crime. The implications of this will be discussed and recommendations will be offered, respectively

Author

• Irene Zempi, Nottingham Trent University