Everyone should read this guide about what to do if you see Islamophobia

Donald Trump’s election win appears to have driven Islamophobic sentiment even higher, and his victory has American Muslims worried.

A documented rise in hate crime towards Muslims since last year only seems to confirm the theory.

Recent data from researchers at California State University found that hate crimes against American Muslims were up 78 per cent since 2015.

A significant number of scholars believe there is a correlation between the rise of Trump and his anti-Muslim rhetoric and the increase in Islamophobic attacks.

Following Tuesday's result, Muslim women took to Twitter to express fresh fears of being attacked for wearing the hijab in public.

Marie-Shirine Yener, a 22-year-old Parisian illustrator, created a guide to give people advice on how they can help Muslims who are being harassed.

She based her strategy on "non-complementary behaviour" - a concept in psychology which aims to disrupt an oppressive connection a potential attacker is attempting to establish with the target.

The guide was initially posted on The Middle Eastern Feminist Facebook page.

Talk to the victim, ignore the attacker

Talk about something random

Continue to engage the Muslim man/woman in conversation, building a safe space as you ignore the attacker

Stay with them until the attacker leaves, and escort them to a neutral area

indy100 caught up with the artist, who goes by the nom de plume "Maeril", to ask about her illustration:

As a woman who comes from a diverse Muslim background – Iran, Armenia and Turkish/Kurdish - Shirine Yener’s exposure to Islam came from a variety of sources, including her family and her Parisian neighbourhood.

I have witnessed, during the last months and years, the number of hate-motivated actions against Muslims increase rapidly. I felt like I had to try to do something with what I have, and that is drawing and writing.

Is verbal harassment of Muslims common in France now?

I hear stories of harassment from everywhere around me: through my friends, my followers (as I’m making a comic about institutionalised racism and got testimonies from Muslim women who described really cruel behaviours from their harassers), the media…

Shirine Yener believes that too many Islamopobic attacks go unreported because of France’s law-enforcement, and the perceived anti-Muslim bias they have. 

The best part of the guide is that it doesn't just help Muslims, and can be applied to different types of harassment.

I think it is important to empower specific, vulnerable minorities because they need it the most; I however encourage everyone to apply this method to every kind of harassment they witness.

 

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Source : indy100.