Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK
| Author | Irene Zempi |
| Published date | 01 January 2020 |
| Date | 01 January 2020 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0269758019872902 |
Examining the boundaries of gendered hate crime
Veiled Muslim women’s
responses to experiences
of gendered Islamophobia
in the UK
Irene Zempi
Nottingham Trent University, UK
Abstract
In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the
West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more
recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing
on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as
‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likely to experience gendered Islamophobia in
the cyber world but also in ‘real’ life due to the intersections between their ‘visible’ Muslim identity
and gender performance. In the British context, although Islamophobia is recorded as a hate crime
nationally, and misogyny as a hate crime locally in some police forces, veiled Muslim women are
unlikely to report their experiences to the police. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Muslim
women who wear the niqab (face veil), the purpose of this article is to examine the ways in which
they respond to experiences of gendered Islamophobia as well as their reasons for not reporting
their experiences to the police.
Keywords
Gender, hate crime, misogyny, Muslim women, veil
Introduction
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 and, more recently, the ISIS-inspired attacks in the
UK, France, Belgium, Germany and Sri Lanka, the religion of Islam is associated with violence,
religious fundamentalism, gender inequality and the global ‘war on terror’. The wearing of the
Corresponding author:
Irene Zempi, Department of Sociology, Nottingham Trent University, Chaucer Building, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham,
NG1 4BU, UK.
Email: irene.zempi@ntu.ac.uk
International Review of Victimology
2020, Vol. 26(1) 96–111
ªThe Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0269758019872902
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niqab (face veil) is perceived as the key visual symbol of Islam in the West. Typically, media
discourses about Islamist extremism are illustrated by the image of a Muslim woman wearing a
niqab. The wearing of the niqab is also seen as a ‘threat’ to notions of integration and national
cohesion as well as a visual embodiment of gender oppression and gender inequality. According to
Perry (2014), the controlling images of veiled Muslim women render them as especially attractive
and available targets for hate crime. The research literature shows that Islamophobia is highly
gendered (Allen et al., 2013; Githens-Mazer and Lambert, 2010; Tell MAMA, 2017; Wing and
Smith, 2006; Zempi, 2016, 2014). Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work
together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are more
likely to suffer hate crime due to intersections between their ‘visible’ Muslim identity and gender
performance, coupled with other aspects of their perceived identity such as race, disability and age.
Nationally and internationally, the notion of ‘hate crime’ is characterised by the incitement of
hatred based upon hostility towards the victim’s identity. In the UK, legislation is centred on the
‘five strands’ of race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity and disability
(College of Policing, 2014). From this perspective, Islamophobia falls into the category of religion
and thus it can be understood as a form of religiously motivated hate crime. However, it is
important to note that the suffix ‘phobia’ is a contested term. Rather, Islamophobia has been
defined as ‘anti-Muslim racism’ (Runnymede Trust, 2017). Along similar lines, the All Party
Parliamentary Group on British Muslims (2018: 11) has offered the following definition: ‘Isla-
mophobia is rooted in racism, and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or
perceived Muslimness.’ Therefore, in this article, Islamophobia is understood as a form of racism
towards actual and perceived Muslims (Awan and Zempi, 2018).
At the time of writing this article, misogyny is not recorded as a hate crime nationally. In 2016,
Nottinghamshire Police became the first force in the country to record harassment of women as a
hate crime in order to tackle misogyny and street harassment. Since then, other police forces,
namely, North Yorkshire Police and Leicestershire Police, have agreed to begin recording mis-
ogyny as a hate crime, and a number of other forces are also looking into this. Understanding the
victimisation of veiled Muslim women as a form of gendered Islamophobia means that they are
locked in a circle of targeted victimisation due to intersections between their visible Muslim
identity and gender performance. Accordingly, there areunique emotional, psychological and
behavioural consequences for veiled Muslim women as actual and potential victims of gendered
Islamophobia. Everyday experiences of both explicit and subtle manifestations of Islamophobic
and misogynistic harassment produce, inter alia, feelings of inferiority, loss of confidence and self-
esteem, depression, guilt and self-blame. However, the extent to which these effects determine
veiled Muslim women’s lived experiences arises out of a complex interaction between the nature
of this victimisation and victims’ coping mechanisms, as well as the amount of support they
receive. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Muslim women who wear the niqab, this article
examines the ways in which they respond to experiences of gendered Islamophobia as well as their
reasons for not reporting their experiences to the police.
Literature review
Understanding the stereotypes associated with veiled Muslim women
Gendered Islamophobia is associated with the negative images and stereotypes of the niqab as a
symbol of gender oppression, self-segregation and Islamist terrorism. Bullock and Jafri (2002: 36)
Zempi 97
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