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Following the first of the summer riots, the Women and Equalities Committee examined the impact on increasing tensions on women in Muslim communities across our country.

• Read the report
• Read the report (PDF)
• Inquiry: Community Cohesion
• Women and Equalities Committee

The report is part of the Committee’s wider ongoing inquiry into Community Cohesion, and the committee found that rising online, verbal and physical abuse and discrimination faced by Muslim women is having a ‘deeply damaging impact on individual lives and a corrosive effect on community cohesion’.

Muslim women are ‘disproportionately likely’ to face hostility and abuse, the report found, with harassment occurring in everyday situations, including in shops and on public transport. Such freedom-restricting harassment, both from direct experience and the fear of experiencing it, leads to self-censorship and a withdrawal from participation in public life, WEC’s report ‘Discrimination, harassment and abuse against Muslim women’ cautioned.

Online abuse, particularly on social media platforms, is a growing concern, the report said, as it called on the Government to review whether the existing legislative framework, including the Online Safety Act, is fit for purpose in tackling it and whether penalties on those who breach regulations are tough enough.

Such a review, it said, should specifically consider whether further regulation is required to tackle the posting of and promotion of hateful content, including increased transparency in the use of algorithms and AI and on advertising revenue generation, and potential need for stronger financial penalties to better encourage compliance.

In response to the increasing problem of online hate, the Government should review whether Ofcom has the resources and powers it needs to enforce the Online Safety Act effectively, it added.

WEC’s report focuses on anti-Muslim hate but said the same arguments can be made for racism, misogyny and anti-semitism, calling on the Government and Ofcom to take a far more robust approach to the regulation of online spaces.

The significant underreporting of hate incidents against Muslim women is a barrier to it being tackled, the report concluded, adding it is essential that the Government has data that accurately reflects the true scale of abuse, including whether victims are targeted due to their faith, ethnicity, or gender or a combination of both. The report welcomed the Government’s commitment to defining anti Muslim hatred, awaiting the outcome of the independent review. 

On reporting and recording, the report recommended Government should take steps to ensure that police officers are appropriately trained on how to recognise, record, and respond effectively to hate crimes perpetrated against Muslim women. It should collect and publish data on the religion, ethnicity and sex of victims of both religiously and racially aggravated hate crimes. The report also called on the Government to implement the Law Commission's recommendations on improving hate crime legislation in the next Session of this Parliament.

The report recommended the Government publish a new hate crime action plan with a dedicated strand on tackling the intersectional abuse of Muslim women. It should include mechanisms on how to increase reporting and guidance on how public services should respond to intersectional abuse, including abuse directed at Muslim women. It called for a ‘cultural shift in how Muslim women are portrayed in the media and online’, adding ‘inaccurate representations and false media narratives’ should be challenged robustly, including by press regulators and Ofcom.

Muslim women face barriers in accessing employment, recruitment and career progression and face microaggressions and discrimination in the workplace, the report warned, adding its prevalence needs to be addressed. 

WEC recommended the Government consider the merits of expanding the scope of section 14 of the Equality Act to include more than two characteristics. Ministers should encourage employers to use name-blind job applications to allow candidates to be shortlisted on the basis of merit, it added, also noting that this would help not just Muslim women but all underrepresented communities from different racial, gender and class backgrounds.

It called on the Government to close the data gap and provide key statistics on income and employment by religious affiliation and gender as well as by ethnic group, so ongoing intersectional inequalities can be fully understood and addressed.  

Schools, the report said, have a vital role in tackling anti-Muslim abuse, adding the Government should ensure that schools have clear policies in place. This needs to include specific training for teachers so they are able to recognise and address anti-Muslim discrimination and abuse.

Chair comment

Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee and Labour MP Sarah Owen said: “As our report concluded, rising levels of online, verbal and physical abuse and discrimination faced by Muslim women in the UK is having a deeply damaging impact on individual lives and a corrosive effect on community cohesion.

The Committee heard and received concerning evidence of such abuse and harassment occurring in everyday situations, including in shops, and on public transport and how this had become the norm for many women.

“Online abuse is a growing concern and has real world consequences. The Government should urgently review whether the existing legislative framework, including the Online Safety Act, is fit for purpose in tackling online hate.

"This one-off inquiry focuses on anti-Muslim hate, but the same arguments can be made for racism, misogyny and antisemitism. As we have outlined in our ongoing work on Community Cohesion, the Government and Ofcom must take a far more robust approach to the regulation of online spaces.

“WEC welcomes the Government’s commitment to defining anti Muslim hatred and awaits the outcome of the independent review on an agreed definition of anti-Muslim hatred.

"We would hope to see a true reflection of the intersectional needs of Muslim women to ensure that reporting, recording and trust in institutions is improved. It is crucial that debate on the definition does not distract attention from the abhorrent abuse many Muslim women in our country experience due to their gender, faith and race and the urgent need for this to be addressed.

“The significant underreporting of hate incidents against Muslim women is a barrier to it being tackled and Government should ensure that resources are targeted efficiently, police officers are appropriately trained to tackle hate crimes perpetrated against Muslim women and that there is adequate support for victims.”