A comprehensive 100 page report on Islamophobia in Australia covering the period of 2014-2016 was launched on Monday 10 July in Melbourne and on Tuesday 11 July in Sydney.
Some of the key highlights of the report included:
- Australian Muslim women who ventured out on their own were almost three times more likely to face harassment of an Islamophobic nature.
- More than half of the female victims had their children with them at the time of the reported incident.
- Most reported physical assaults occurred in NSW (60%) and VIC (26.7%).
- 48% of offline attacks occurred in crowded spaces that were frequented daily – shopping centres, train stations and mosque surroundings were the most common.
- Nobody intervened in 75% of the reported incidents.
The Sydney launch of the report was held at the NSW Parliament House organised by the Islamophobia Register of Australia in partnership with the Centre for Islamic Studies and Civilisation, Charles Sturt University.
The report was formally launched by Ms Lisa Annese, CEO of Diversity Council Australia. The audience were welcomed by Dr Mehmet Ozalp from ISRA while Ms Randa Abdel-Fattah, writer and researcher introduced the report to those present at the launch.
Ms Mariam Veiszadeh, the founder of the Islamophobia Register highlighted the services provided by her organisation and announced that she was now vacating its Presidentship.
Professor Linda Briskman from Western Sydney University provided a summary of the findings of the report while its main author and editor Dr Derya Iner highlighted the key findings.
The report was compiled in partnership with Islamic Sciences & Research Academy of Australia (ISRA), the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization, Deakin University, the University of Western Australia, Diversity Council of Australia and Just Media Advocacy and was critically analysed by field-expert academics ranging from disciplines of sociology and theology to political sciences and criminology.
“The Report offers a window into the types of religiously motivated Islamophobic incidents taking place out in suburban Australia and its release is especially timely as there is a continuing debate over the existence and the scale of Islamophobia in Australia” said Mariam Veiszadeh,Lawyer and President of the Islamophobia Register Australia.
The principle researcher and editor of the report Dr Derya Iner, a Senior Lecturer at Charles Sturt University, said, “The report documents and analyses the present manifestations of Islamophobia in Australia both at an institutional and individual level and provides authentic and vigorous data by quoting from the victims, their proxies and witnesses.”
The five key findings of the report included:
• Women, especially those with Islamic head covering (79.6% of the female victims), havebeen the main targets of Islamophobia and more than 30% of the female victims had their children with them at the time of the reported incident.
• 98% of perpetrators were identified as ethnically Anglo-Celtic, as indicated by the reporter and the typical perpetrator tended to be male.
• Most reported physical assaults (Offline incidents) occurred in NSW (60%) and VIC (26.7%).
• 48% of offline attacks occurred in crowded spaces that were frequented daily – shopping centres, train stations and mosque surroundings were the most common.
• Non-Muslims constituted about 25% of the witness reporters and nobody intervened in 75% of the reported incidents.
The report captures and critically analyses with a rigorous and transparent methodology, 243 verified incidents reported to the Islamophobia Register Australia between September 2014 and December 2015.
The report findings signify the circumstances under which anti-Muslim hate incidents exist, operate and affect Australian Muslims and illustrate specific characteristics of Islamophobia.
A verification process was undertaken by a team of researchers in which reported incident details were verified and additional information was sought directly from the reporters who were classified according to whether they were the victims, witnesses or proxy reporters.
The collated data was then further categorised for analysis in which they were classified and assessed according to the following characteristics – online or offline incident types and severity levels, locational features of the incidents, social context, vulnerability of victims, content of abuse and the impact of incidents on victims.
A copy of the “Islamophobia in Australia” Charles Sturt University Report is now available online:
http://arts-ed.csu.edu.au/…/csu-islamophobia-in-australia-J…
People would hate Muslims less if their practices were less barbaric and if they could treat women and other religious groups with respect.
…did this make sense to you in ur mind when you wrote it? You think Muslim women are oppressed and mistreated so that makes it ok to hate them and justifies assaulting them? In public? Next to their kids? What kind of sick logic is that?
Hahaha … so beat any Muslim hjiabi woman in the street to show how women should be treated ….so stupid!
A Muslim businessman has made the extraordinary claim that Australia’s white race will be extinct within the next 40 years.
Halal certification boss Mohamed Elmouelhy believes Aussie men are more concerened with smoking, drinking and taking drugs to procreate.
Mr Elmouelhy told his Facebook followers that Australian women need Muslim men to ‘fertilise them’ and ‘keep them surrounded by Muslim babies’.
He made the outrageous claim after reading research from Hebrew University in Jerusalem which showed that sperm counts in men from Australia, New Zealand, North America and Europe have declined by more than 50 per cent in the past 40 years.
‘Your men are a dying breed, Australian women need us to fertilise them and keep them surrounded by Muslim babies while beer swilling, cigarette smoking, drug injecting can only dream of what Muslim men are capable of,’ he said.
‘Muslims have a duty to make your women happy.’
‘Because you are declining, better go choose a plot for yourself at your local cemetery,’
‘If you can’t afford it, commit suicide. It is a cheaper alternative for bigots.’
What he has failed to take into consideration is the fact we (In the western world) procreate responsibly, and for the main part do not rely on welfare to support our parenting and family decisions.
His shocking rant came after research by Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Jerusalem discovered male fertility has declined by more than 50 per cent in less than 40 years in several Western nations, including Australia.
And thats what you really think about us
Correct Phil Laws. And don’t forget it’s ok for them to lie to us. Who’d pay any attention to their studies on Islamaphobia? So over this BS!
The Niqab, hijab and burka are NOT required clothing in the Koran.
If this clothing was not worn by Muslim women they would NOT stand out anywhere.
DON’T wear the idiotic clothing.
The messsage YOU are sending out is that YOU are unapproachable and pure while all other ( non Muslim) women are displaying themslves as sexually available IE that YOU are superior to us.
YOU are setting YOURSELVES up to be noticed.
Personally I do not want to know what religion ANyone is just by looking at them.
This is a SECULAR country where a persons religion is PRIVATE to them.
What about the “Indivdiual Freedom” which is the western pride??Instead of blaming wearing Hijab ,as a personal practice,you should blame barbaric minds attacking women even when accompanied by their children?
Islamophobia,a term used by islamist’s to describe those who cannot inquire,discuss,debate,or criticize islam ,we can all other religions ,how else can we know their beliefs and teachings? we are always being asked to have a coffee and a talk as to our ‘misconceptions ‘ we might have of islam , we would prefer an open on air discussion ,but islam will not participate as it knows it would not be able to answer many questions that would be asked ,such as the marriage of Aisha ,married at 6 and consummated at 9,we in the west believe adults having sex with children are pedophiles ,islam is not compatible with our Australian culture and values ,the beliefs and teachings of islam does not allow muslims to assimilate as it’s first allegiance is to islam ,we have every right to discuss or criticize islam,our government brought you here ,and ‘we’ the taxpayer provide you with all the help needed for a better life. You talk about your women being abused and insulted,so are ‘our young girls by your arrogant young men,our defense force have been told not to wear their uniform when not on duty so as they won’t be hassled and abused,stop playing the victim.
I think you should do some research into how old other prominent religious figures were when they got married and make comparisons in a historical context. Pot kettle much? OR forget that, there’s 27 states in America in today’s advanced modern world where 12 year olds are getting married legally and becoming sexually active at 10… that’s happening now in 2017.
And you talk about “your” women being assaulted by “our” arrogant young men. Do the math, 2% of Australians are Muslim, let’s say half of that is male so 1%. And a tiny fraction of that would fall into your category of “arrogant young men”. Considering 1 in 3 Australian women have been abused/assaulted, that’s what 33% of “your women”… statistically you’re being an idiot for suggesting THAT’s a Muslim problem. Sick of being your scapegoat for everything. You should look into Seerah and stop being so angry.
And those people offering u coffee are being nice. Show some gratitude. What happened to human decency…