Mariam

In the winter 2019 I had a woman committ a hate crime against me because I’m a black hijab wearing Muslim young woman spouting hate speech and islamophobic language and nearly physically assault me by approaching me aggressively. Thankfully I was at a drop in centre and the other people there including staff defended me and prevented the situation from getting worse which I’m eternally grateful for and was able to thank them immediately. I stood up for myself and the Muslim community directly against the Islamophobic and hateful language and reported the incident to my local police force and the executive director of the drop in centre but unfortunately they weren’t able to find the racist and Islamophobic woman to hold her legally accountable but I did report it. I remained cool, calm and collected while I politely confronted the racist and Islamophobic woman and her statements but immediately afterwards I broke down in a nearby bathroom stall and it took me getting support from my local victim services referred to me by my local police force to deal and cope with the emotional aftermath of the hate crime and Islamophobic incident to feel safe again and it took some time but thankfully with the grace of Allah (SWT) and local support services I have moved on from it.