Covering and Hate Crimes
Muslim women are often victims of hate crimes in the United States. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (IPSU) recently published data stating that while 68% of Muslim women have experienced religious discrimination and “47% fear for their safety from white supremacist groups,” only 15% of the women stated that they would likely alter their physical appearance in an attempt to hide their faith.
The IPSU also reports that “covered or uncovered, Muslims are the target of hate crimes. However, the headscarf acts as a scarlet letter (Aziz)."
In America, the decision to cover unfortunately imposes a higher risk of being subjected to hate crimes by Islamophobic citizens.
The Islamophobia industry is quick to use 9/11 as justification for heinous attacks on Muslims across the country. However, from 2015 to 2016, fifteen years after the Twin Towers fell, hate crimes against Muslims nearly tripled in the height of the presidential election.
The industry shames the practice of Islam for oppressing and abusing women, but in reality, we live in an era where the streets of The United States are far more dangerous for Muslim women than majority Muslim countries. In post-9/11 and Donald Trump’s America, Muslim women fall prey not to “the stereotype of Muslim men as violent savages,” but to the racist American public who seem to interpret the hijab as its very own suicide bomb (Aziz).
Attacks on Muslim women and young girls are increasingly prevalent, and while articles describing the hate crimes can be found online, they aren’t often the headline of major news sources. Many mainstream articles downplay the violence as “potential hate crimes” when writing about acts as extreme as a woman’s hijab being ripped off her head followed by the perpetrator shouting for her to return to her country, and then proceeding to beat the woman until she had a seizure.
The article quoted the spokesperson of the Milwaukee Police Department stating, “based on the victim’s statement, this is not believed to be a hate crime” (Mathias). The American Islamophobia industry is one where wearing a hijab immediately makes you a terrorist, but beating someone to near death on their walk home does not.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the British Islamophobic abuse research organization Tell MAMA, describes “the fundamental element of Islamophobia [to be] male-on-female violence and abuse” (Kale). The literature argues that Muslim women are the primary targets of hate crimes in the Western world, while the negligible, belittling and condescending reporting on these crimes highlights the rampant Islamophobia in America nearly as much as the attacks themselves.
Our study seeks to investigate how public perception, the prevalence of hate crimes against Muslim-American women and their subsequent sense of security influences their decision to cover or not. We hope to give just voice to the experiences of these women, and highlight how living in America encourages and/or hinders their openness about their religion and identities.
Research by Sierra Cowan
The Islamophobia industry is quick to use 9/11 as justification for heinous attacks on Muslims across the country. However, from 2015 to 2016, fifteen years after the Twin Towers fell, hate crimes against Muslims nearly tripled in the height of the presidential election.
The industry shames the practice of Islam for oppressing and abusing women, but in reality, we live in an era where the streets of The United States are far more dangerous for Muslim women than majority Muslim countries. In post-9/11 and Donald Trump’s America, Muslim women fall prey not to “the stereotype of Muslim men as violent savages,” but to the racist American public who seem to interpret the hijab as its very own suicide bomb (Aziz).
Attacks on Muslim women and young girls are increasingly prevalent, and while articles describing the hate crimes can be found online, they aren’t often the headline of major news sources. Many mainstream articles downplay the violence as “potential hate crimes” when writing about acts as extreme as a woman’s hijab being ripped off her head followed by the perpetrator shouting for her to return to her country, and then proceeding to beat the woman until she had a seizure.
The article quoted the spokesperson of the Milwaukee Police Department stating, “based on the victim’s statement, this is not believed to be a hate crime” (Mathias). The American Islamophobia industry is one where wearing a hijab immediately makes you a terrorist, but beating someone to near death on their walk home does not.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the British Islamophobic abuse research organization Tell MAMA, describes “the fundamental element of Islamophobia [to be] male-on-female violence and abuse” (Kale). The literature argues that Muslim women are the primary targets of hate crimes in the Western world, while the negligible, belittling and condescending reporting on these crimes highlights the rampant Islamophobia in America nearly as much as the attacks themselves.
Our study seeks to investigate how public perception, the prevalence of hate crimes against Muslim-American women and their subsequent sense of security influences their decision to cover or not. We hope to give just voice to the experiences of these women, and highlight how living in America encourages and/or hinders their openness about their religion and identities.
Research by Sierra Cowan
Aziz, Sahar. “Opposing the Rise of State-Sponsored Islamophobia | ISPU.” Institute for Social
Policy and Understanding, 26 Sept. 2017, www.ispu.org/opposing-the-rise-of-state-sponsored-islamophobia/.
Aziz, Sahar. “Time to Address Violence against Muslim Women | ISPU.” Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 14 Aug. 2017,
www.ispu.org/time-to-address-violence-against-muslim-women/.
Aziz, Sahar F., The Muslim 'Veil' Post-9/11: Rethinking Women's Rights and Leadership (2012). Institute for Social Policy and Understanding Policy Brief, November 2012. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2194119 .
Mathias, Christopher. “Muslim Woman Attacked In Possible Hate Crime Thought She Was Going To Die.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milwaukee-muslim-hate-crime-attack_us_58ee6621e4b08c15f0dbd2d4.
Policy and Understanding, 26 Sept. 2017, www.ispu.org/opposing-the-rise-of-state-sponsored-islamophobia/.
Aziz, Sahar. “Time to Address Violence against Muslim Women | ISPU.” Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 14 Aug. 2017,
www.ispu.org/time-to-address-violence-against-muslim-women/.
Aziz, Sahar F., The Muslim 'Veil' Post-9/11: Rethinking Women's Rights and Leadership (2012). Institute for Social Policy and Understanding Policy Brief, November 2012. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2194119 .
Mathias, Christopher. “Muslim Woman Attacked In Possible Hate Crime Thought She Was Going To Die.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/milwaukee-muslim-hate-crime-attack_us_58ee6621e4b08c15f0dbd2d4.