By Anand Kulkarni
Dr Anand Kulkarni (Australia) is a Consultant and Principal Advisor at Victoria University, Melbourne. He is also the Associate Editor for the Journal International Review of Business and Economics and a Fellow at the Centre For Policy Development in Australia.
A recent move by a far-right politician in Australia to wear a burqa in Parliament, in apparent mockery, has called attention to the growing issue of Islamophobia in Australia.
Is there really a problem?
Recent terrorist threats and acts, both in Australia and abroad, are utterly deplorable and deserve the strongest condemnation and appropriate action. Yet, a recent report highlights a growing concern about Islamophobia in Australia, affecting innocent hardworking residents going about their daily lives. Based on 243 incidents between 2014 and 2015 reported to the Islamophobic Register in Australia, this recent report finds that slightly more than 50% of incidents were based on real life or offline incidents, while the rest were online harassment.
Of the offline incidents, over half involved physical assault, graffiti, damage and nonverbal harassment. 15% of incidents involved social discrimination including exclusion from work, school and/or social events. Online harassment was significantly associated with violent threats.
The report goes on to say that women were the most victimised, commonly those with headscarves. These incidents often occurred in the presence of children. Public places including public transport, shopping centres, and schools were key locations for harassment. Worryingly, verbal harassment included death threats, and vicious comments, frequently of a misogynistic nature.
What is fuelling this harassment?
Two further findings in the study underscore the emergence of the problem: the reluctance of people to intervene. For example, in only 5.3% did third parties intervene and only 31.8% of offline attacks were reported to the police. Their responses, while sympathetic, did not necessarily elicit action.
According to the report, a matter of concern is that only 11% of insults were specifically related to terrorism. This would mean that the sentiment is more about general, and possibly ingrained, hatred of Islam and Muslims. Is this the new normal?
A glimmer of hope, perhaps?
For every cloud, there is, perhaps, a semblance of a silver lining. It was observed that 46.2% of offline incidents were reported by a witness. This highlights growing awareness and vigilance about the problem amongst the population. In fact, there was a significantly higher proportion of witness reporting compared to either victims or proxies, and roughly a quarter of witness reporters were non-Muslims. While there is possibly some encouragement in these numbers, it might also reflect fear of reporting on the part of victims themselves.
Another study has a more benign view of the issue (Colic-Peisker and Dekker K 2017). Drawing on data from suburban Melbourne, this other study finds that non-Muslim locals were generally untroubled by the presence of visible Muslimslike those wearing the traditional dress and valued diversity in their local community. However, it should be noted that there was significantly more concern about face covering compared to hair covering.
Efforts for inclusivity
In short, it appears that there is a growing issue of Islamophobia, in Australia, and certainly in many countries abroad. Australia has a long and proud tradition of inclusivity and tolerance of people from all walks of life and all places. Vigilance, tolerance, awareness, and education are the hallmark attributes in continuing to promote and maintain inclusivity. Compiled into a more comprehensive list, this extended list of attributes embodies the reports findings:
- Ongoing research and information gathering accompanied by dissemination about the magnitude and extent of the problem
- Leadership by community groups and politicians at all levels, the former aimed at building networks of tolerance and inclusivity at the grassroots level
- Education programs to raise awareness
- Collaborative projects between Muslims and non-Muslims for community benefit
- Feel good media stories reinforcing positive messages; and
- Growing recruitment by Muslims in key institutions such as the police, judiciary, and politics.
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