Why do Muslim women live in fear in this Canadian city? | Islamic Issues of Islamophobia

Canada – Dunia Nur was out buying paint afterwards. A local designer in Edmonton, Alberta speaks Somali to his aunt on the phone when a man in the store forcefully tells him to “speak English”. When he tried to get out, they stopped him.

“She was upset that I spoke my language,” Nur, a Canadian Somali president and co-founder of the African Canadian Civil Engagement Council, told Al Jazeera. “I tried to move and then he stopped me.”

Although recent developments have not made any progress, Nur said it made him feel safe, especially since it happened shortly after a Muslim family was chased away by a driver in London, Ontario in a war that police said was a threat. fueled by anti-Muslim hatred.

It came amidst rhetoric and insults against Muslim women, especially black women in Edmonton since late last year – which Nur said has left many locals fearful of leaving their homes.

In late June, two sisters, Muslim women wearing hijabs, were arrested a man holding a knife who cursed them with the tribes on the way out of the city. In some cases, Muslim women have been he threw himself on the ground while walking or intimidation while waiting for public transportation.

The city says police in Edmonton have received reports of five incidents involving black women wearing hijabs since December 8, 2020, and anti-hate police officers have been arrested and charged with any suspicion.

But Islamic freedom fighters say it is often said. “We had a meeting in the hall where many women came out and said they had already been stabbed, told to return home, had experienced a lot of sexual harassment and hate crimes. – it just goes unnoticed,” said Nur.

“Muslim Muslim women are attacked and abused for their hatred of black people and beaten for Islamophobia[c] ankhula I feel like at the moment we don’t know what will happen to us when we go out. ”

City measurements

The capital of western Canada in Alberta, Edmonton was home to more than 972,000 people in 2019, according to an urban family research.

In an email to Al Jazeera, Mayor Don Iveson’s office said the people of Edmontoni “have never heard of racism and xenophobia in our city”.

“There are things that happen systematically and for a long time to this, there are issues of prejudice in the heart and mind of [Edmontonians] who need to know better – and there are too many people who have been given permission, in various ways, to end their hatred in this area. And I, like many in Edmontonia, want it to stop. Now, ”he said in a statement.

Iveson says the Edmonton city council is supporting a call for enforcement of anti-Canadian laws and has provided funding to promote ways to end hate and violence, including working group to provide advice on how to make the community safer.

“The city, the Edmonton Police Service, and the Edmonton Police Commission have responded with a plan of action to report 70 different incidents responding to identified incidents. Most of the channels will be visible by early 2022,” he said.

The city council also issued a statement earlier this month ordering Edmonton to continue to work with blacks, Indians and other communities to end violence and violence.

The case also ordered the mayor to write to the government to “ask for a review and change of the modern meaning of hate crime” in all races, gendered or cultural, the city said.

Women ‘in fear’

But despite this, activist Wati Rahmat told Al Jazeera that “Muslim women are scared” in Edmonton.

“I have had friends who discuss whether they should change the hijab, or take off the hijab, or go with a friend, or not go out,” said Rahmat, founder of the Sisters Dialogue, a Muslim-led Muslim community, in response to the threats. The group is currently working on a successful travel mission to provide alongside Muslim women who do not feel safe to go on their own.

Demand for aid in Edmonton grows, Canada calls on the government to adopt an Islamic solution, as leaders racism and xenophobia on the right increasing the risk of violence.

For many, June attack in London, Ontario – also tragic shooting of 2017 to the mosque of Quebec City and a the gift of death last year outside a mosque west of Toronto – show how the crisis could be resolved.

Muslim members and supporters have gathered to protest after his assassination in London, Ontario, and the killing of four members of a Muslim family in June. [File: Ian Willms/Getty Images via AFP]

“I don’t think it’s right for women to be afraid to go abroad,” Rahmat said.

Other Islamist security forces, including the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), have also called for stricter traffic laws, as the recent spate of attacks on Muslim women in Alberta has taken place in public.

Fatema Abdalla, a NCCM liaison officer, said at least 15 terrorist attacks on Muslim women had been reported in the cities of Edmonton and Calgary in the past six months.

“These women were either on their daily trips or were in the park or LRT [light-rail transit] station or other high-rise, ”Abdalla told Al Jazeera, adding that the NCCM receives invitations almost every week on anti-Muslim insults across the country.

“It is an event like this that we must avoid leading us to a catastrophic catastrophe that we have seen in London, Ontario,” he said.

Public actions

Meanwhile, leaders of Islamic groups have taken steps to end violence on their own. Noor al-Henedy is the director of Communications at Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton, which developed strategies for self-protection for Muslim women this year.

When the community saw the need to provide women with concrete tools to get them out of trouble – and the training attracted attention – al-Henedy said they were also showing their frustration.

“It’s sad and frustrating to tell the truth to you and I think it makes some people a little angry that we have to do this, to do the same,” al-Henedy told Al Jazeera in March.

“We are concerned about the next generation; we worry about our daughters, ”he added. “When a 15-year-old girl comes in and tells you that she’s really scared to cross the street, walking from school to home, it’s very difficult. It hurts so much. ”

Nur at the African Canadian Civil Engagement Council said the agency was also working to provide psychological support, as well as information for Muslim women on how to deal with arrests, including how to report abuse.

He called on international organizations such as the United Nations to urge Canada to take immediate action in response to the Edmonton incident.

“We want international interest and cooperation because we cannot do this on our own and the authorities are failing us. We need international support and intervention,” Nur said. “We are not good. We are not really good.”