Why do Muslim women live in “fear” in this Canadian city? | Islamophobia News

Canada – Dunia Nur went out to buy paint. A community organizer in Edmonton, Alberta was talking to his aunt on the phone with a soma when a store man aggressively told her to speak “English”. When he tried to get out of the situation, he blocked his way.

“My language was hurt because I was speaking,” said Nur Juri, a Canadian from Somalia and one of the presidents and founders of the African Civil Engagement Council in Canada. “I tried to move and then he blocked me.”

Although the latest incident did not escalate, Nur said he did not feel safe, especially when a Muslim family was killed by a driver in London, Ontario and shortly afterwards, police said in a deadly attack. driven by hatred against Muslims.

It also happened last year amid verbal and physical attacks on black Muslim women in and around Edmonton – Nur said many members of the community felt fear of leaving their homes.

In late June, two sisters, Muslim women wearing hijabs, attacked her the man carrying the knife he threw racial slurs at them from a road outside the city. In other cases, there have been Muslim women thrown to the ground on a walk or threatened waiting for public transport.

The city says Edmonton police have reported five incidents involving black women wearing hijabs since Dec. 8, 2020, and have arrested the police force’s hate crime unit and filed a complaint against the suspect in each case.

But advocates for Muslim communities say the events are often not reported. “We had a town hall meeting where a lot of women came out and actually told them that they had been attacked with knives before, they were told to go home, they had experienced a lot of gender violence and hate crimes – it was unreported,” Nur said.

“Black Muslim women are being attacked and are being attacked because of racism against blacks and because of Islamophobia[c] they are being attacked because they are rhetoric and women … I feel like we are right now that we don’t know what will happen to us when we get out. ”

City measures

Edmonton, the capital of western Alberta in Canada, had a population of more than 972,000 in 2019, according to a municipal house poll.

Mayor Don Iveson’s office said in an email to Al Jazeera that some Edmontonians “do not welcome racist and big behavior in our city.”

“There are systemic and long-term factors that contribute to this. There are also issues of specific prejudice in the heart and mind. [Edmontonians] who should know better – and there are too many people who have been licensed, in different ways, to hate in that community. And I, like most Edmontonians, want to stop. Now, ”the document says.

Iveson said Edmonton City Council supports calls to strengthen hate laws in Canada and has provided funding to strengthen initiatives to combat hatred and violence, among other things. a team to provide advice to make the community feel safe.

“The City Council, the Edmonton Police Service and the Edmonton Police Commission have responded with a work plan outlining 70 different actions that are addressing the issues identified. A broader strategy will be presented in early 2022,” the document says.

The council also approved a motion to address Edmonton earlier this month to address harassment and violence with blacks, Indigenous people and other communities.

The motion also ordered the mayor to write to the federal government to “request a review and update the current definition of hate crime” for racial, gender, or cultural gaps or biases, the council said.

Women “scared”

Despite these measures, activist Wati Rahmat told Al Jazeera that “Muslim women are in fear” in Edmonton.

“I have had friends who need to change the way they wear the hijab or remove the hijab or have conversations with a friend or go out with a friend,” Rahmat, Sisters Dialogue, an initiative aimed at Muslim women, said in response to the attacks. The group is currently taking a safe walk to provide support to Muslim women who do not feel safe.

Demands for more support in Edmonton are growing. They are urging the federal government across Canada to implement an action plan to stop Islamophobia as advocates say. systemic racism and far-right fanaticism increased risks of violence.

For many The June attack London, Ontario – as well The deadly shooting of 2017 In a mosque in Quebec and a deadly stab outside a mosque in west Toronto last year – show how deadly the problem can be.

Members of the Muslim community and supporters gather for vigil in London (Ontario) after four members of a Muslim family were killed in June [File: Ian Willms/Getty Images via AFP]

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to be afraid of women taking to the streets,” Rahmat said.

Some Muslim advocacy groups, including the National Council of Muslims of Canada (NCCM), have called for the strengthening of street harassment laws, as most of the attacks on Muslim women in Alberta have occurred in public recently.

NCCM communications coordinator Fatema Abdalla said she has reported attacks on at least 15 Muslim women in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary over the past six months.

“These women are on daily walks or in a park or LRT [light-rail transit] station or some form of transportation station, ”Abdalla told Al Jazeera, adding that the NCCM calls almost weekly for calls about verbal abuse against Muslim communities across the country.

“We need to avoid cases like this so that they do not cause as devastating attacks as we have already seen in London (Ontario),” he said.

Community action

Meanwhile, the heads of Muslim communities are taking steps to try to stop the violence on their own. Noor al-Henedy is the communications director for the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton and has organized self-defense courses for Muslim women this year.

While the community believed it was necessary to provide concrete tools to get out of the bad situation – and the courses sparked tremendous interest – al-Henedy said they also reflect the disturbing reality.

“It’s very sad and disappointing to be honest with you and it makes some people quite angry that they have to do this, that they have to resort to these measures,” Al-Henedy told Al Jazeera in an interview in March.

“We are concerned about the future generation; we worry about our daughters, “he added.” When a 15-year-old comes in and says he’s too scared to cross the street, when he walks home from school, that’s very worrying. He’s heartbroken. “

Nur of the African Civil Engagement Council in Canada said the organization is also working to provide psychological support, as well as information on what to do if Muslim women are attacked, how and to whom to report the incident of violence.

He called on international organizations such as the United Nations to take urgent action to address the situation in Edmonton.

“We need international attention and solidarity because we can’t do it on our own and our public officials are failing us. We need international support and intervention,” Nur said. “It simply came to our notice then. We’re really not well. “