Islamophobia is widespread in Canada, early findings of Senate committee show – National | 24CA News
Islamophobia and violence in opposition to Muslims is widespread and deeply entrenched in Canadian society, early findings from a Senate committee finding out the difficulty point out.
Muslim ladies who put on hijabs – Black Muslim ladies particularly – are probably the most weak, and confronting Islamophobia in a wide range of public spheres is tough, the committee on human rights has discovered.
“Canada has a problem,” committee chair Sen. Salma Ataullahjan stated in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.
“We are hearing of intergenerational trauma because young kids are witnessing this. Muslims are speaking out because there’s so many attacks happening and they’re so violent.”
The drawback is worse than present statistics counsel, Ataullahjan stated.
Many Muslims throughout Canada dwell with fixed concern of being focused, particularly if they’ve skilled an Islamophobic assault, witnessed one or misplaced a liked one to violence, the committee discovered.
“Some of these women were afraid to leave their homes and it became difficult for them to take their children to school. Many were spat on,” Ataullahjan stated. “Muslims have to look over their shoulder constantly.”
Last month, figures launched by Statistics Canada indicated police-reported hate crimes concentrating on Muslims elevated by 71 per cent from 2020 to 2021. The fee of the crimes was eight incidents per 100,000 members of the Muslim inhabitants, primarily based on census figures.
The Senate committee’s work started in June 2021, not lengthy after 4 members of a Muslim household died after being run over by a pickup truck whereas out for a night stroll in London, Ont. A person is dealing with terror-related homicide prices of their deaths.
The committee’s senators, analysts, translators and different workers travelled to Vancouver, Edmonton, Quebec, and throughout the Greater Toronto Area to talk with Canadians who attend mosques, Muslims who have been victims of assaults, academics, medical doctors and safety officers, amongst others.
The findings from these conversations at the moment are being put collectively in a report, which the committee started drafting this week, Ataullahjan stated.
The last model of the report – set to be printed in July – is anticipated to incorporate suggestions on what might be executed to fight Islamophobia and the way authorities can higher assist victims of assaults, she stated.
Among the committee’s findings is an commentary that assaults in opposition to Muslims typically seem to occur out on the streets and look like extra violent than these concentrating on different spiritual teams, Ataullahjan stated.
Analysts and specialists interviewed by the Senate committee stated the rise of far-right hate teams and anti-Muslim teams are among the many elements driving assaults in opposition to Muslims, Ataullahjan stated.
The committee regarded on the instances of Black Muslim ladies in Edmonton who have been violently assaulted lately.
“Some of them sat in front of us and everyone was getting teary-eyed because it’s not easy to tell your story especially where you’ve been hurt,” she stated.
The 2017 taking pictures at a Quebec mosque when a gunman opened hearth, killing six worshippers and injuring a number of others, is one other instance of violent Islamophobia, she stated.
The Senate committee’s report can even handle latest violence in opposition to Muslims, together with an alleged assault outdoors a Markham, Ont., mosque the place witnesses instructed police a person tore up a Qur’an, yelled racial slurs, and tried to ram a automotive into congregants.
The committee can even element day-to-day aggression in opposition to Muslim Canadians, together with accounts from hijab-wearing women in faculties who don’t really feel snug reporting situations of Islamophobia to police, Ataullahjan stated.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims stated the preliminary findings align with what it has been observing and attempting to tell authorities leaders about for years.
“We’re happy that this is being done,” stated spokesman Steven Zhou. “It’s something that everyone everywhere needs to study up on. It’s a worsening problem.”
The council will get calls on daily basis from Muslims throughout Canada detailing situations of Islamophobia, Zhou stated, underscoring the necessity for motion.
“People don’t like to report these things,” he stated. “It takes a lot out of them to actually go to courts or talk to the police who might not understand exactly what they’ve gone through.”
Zhou stated he expects the committee will make suggestions just like ideas the council has already put ahead, together with modifications to hate crime laws, creating insurance policies that may stop hate teams from gathering close to locations of worship, and laws to cope with on-line hate.
The National Council of Muslim Canadians additionally hopes the report will assist Canadians familiarize themselves with the Muslim neighborhood.
“We want to address hate,” he stated. “But also it’s about building bridges. For people to learn about Islam, for people to learn about what this religion is actually about, how the community works.”
© 2023 The Canadian Press
