By There has been an arrest in the case of a Muslim woman who was horrifically attacked while shopping in Bletchley. The suspect, a 37 year old man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the violent racist attack after he was seen on CCTV footage.
The suspect was seen verbally abusing the victim, who initially ignored him, and then following her to her car and repeatedly kicking her in the stomach.
A by-stander who sought to help the woman was also attacked. The victim in the attack, a 34 year old woman, was rushed to hospital where she tragically lost her baby.
Witnesses described the woman as wearing a headscarf, and being of “Middle Eastern” appearance.
As the most visible members of the Ummah, Muslim women are disproportionately affected by Islamophobic attacks.
Initially, the investigating officer, PC Richard Armitage released the following statement: “This racially aggravated assault had absolutely devastating consequences for the victim, who lost her baby as a result of the attack. Our thoughts are with her and her family at this incredibly difficult and sad time.”
This latest attack follows a similar attack in Barcelona, where a veiled pregnant Muslim was kicked in the stomach and an attack in New York City on a Muslim woman and her child. The attack also follows a worrying increase in hate crimes in the United Kingdom since the Brexit vote.
Speaking to Al-Jazeera, Harun Khan, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain reported a “growing undercurrent of anti-Muslim sentiments” across Britain: “There are lots of stories about people being attacked and abused – mainly vulnerable people, like women wearing the hijab and the elderly. They are being targeted more often.”
It is painfully ironic that the same ideologues who criticize Islam for being, in their words, oppressive to women, patriarchal and sexist, do not see the cognitive dissonance in responding to their prejudices with violent attacks on Muslim women.
As the most visible members of the Ummah, Muslim women are disproportionately affected by Islamophobic attacks. Muslim women who wear the headscarf are the most visible targets of random and public Islamophobic vitriol and violence. These attacks pose valid questions in the United Kingdom and beyond about the safety of Muslim women in the context of widespread Islamophobia, racism, and sexism.
It is painfully ironic that the same ideologues who criticize Islam for being, in their words, oppressive to women, patriarchal and sexist, do not see the cognitive dissonance in responding to their prejudices with violent attacks on Muslim women.
It is also important that as a community we ensure that when we discuss Islamophobia, we do so through an intersectional lens that recognizes that Islamophobia is fundamentally gendered.
As a community, we need to recognize that this attack and similar attacks on Muslim women whilst being Islamophobic, are also sexist, and often racist. This brazen and public attack on a pregnant Muslim woman reflects the visibility and perceived vulnerability of Muslim women. It is important that we recognise that Muslim women often contend with institutional racism, structural sexism, misogyny and patriarchal societies.
It is also important that as a community we ensure that when we discuss Islamophobia, we do so through an intersectional lens that recognizes that Islamophobia is fundamentally gendered.
this breaks my heart..