Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK

• Published in: International review of victimology 2020-01, Vol.26 (1), p.96-111
• Main Author: Zempi, Irene
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Gender identity; Hate crimes; Intersectionality; Misogyny; Muslims; Police; Religious rituals; September 11 terrorist attacks-2001; Terrorism; Women; Xenophobia
• ISSN: 0269-7580; 2047-9433
• DOI: 10.1177/0269758019872902

In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likely to experience gendered Islamophobia in the cyber world but also in ‘real’ life due to the intersections between their ‘visible’ Muslim identity and gender performance. In the British context, although Islamophobia is recorded as a hate crime nationally, and misogyny as a hate crime locally in some police forces, veiled Muslim women are unlikely to report their experiences to the police. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil), the purpose of this article is to examine the ways in which they respond to experiences of gendered Islamophobia as well as their reasons for not reporting their experiences to the police.