Tell MAMA, Our Achievements, Our Effectiveness & Ensuring Positive Change
Changing the parliamentary debate on anti-Muslim hate, counter-extremism and Muslim communities
Throughout 2015 and 2016 our staff gave oral and written evidence to various Home Affairs Select Committees. This includes the countering extremism inquiry, the employment opportunities for Muslims in the UK inquiry, and the hate crime and its violent consequences inquiry.
Tell MAMA cited in the Casey Review
Dame Louise Casey was asked to undertake a review into integration and opportunity in our most isolated and deprived communities in 2015. The findings were revealed in a 199-page report. On issues of anti-Muslim hate crime, the report cites figures from our 2015 annual report. On intra-Muslim issues, the Casey Review mentions the rising number of anti-Ahmadiyya cases reported to our service in 2016. The growing violence and bigotry against the Ahmadiyya community is expanded upon in the Faith Matters report ‘Sectarianism, Extremism and Hate Crime, the Impacts on the Ahmadiyya Community’.
Supporting the safety of Muslim students in universities
The Universities UK report ‘Changing the Culture: Report of the Universities UK Taskforce Examining Violence against Women, Harassment and Hate Crime Affecting University Students’ draws heavily from our 2015 annual report and expertise when providing safety tips for Muslim students.
Launching the first ever awards to celebrate those who challenge hate
Tell MAMA and partners celebrate the first annual National Hate Crime Awards 2016. The first annual National Hate Crime Awards took place on November 17, 2016. It celebrated the ‘upstanders’ in our society who have taken a stand against all forms of hate, intolerance and prejudice nationwide. This was part of our wider #No2h8November campaign which has received support from the office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and members of parliament – including Nusrat Ghani MP. Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), was one of the keynote speakers during the prestigious event. A full list of winners is available online.
Working with government & strengthening communities
In the forward for the government’s wide ranging Hate Crime Action Plan, Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), highlighted the work of Tell MAMA. Our data appears in the religious hate crime section of the Hate Crime Action Plan.
In the media
On July 11 2016, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary titled ‘Racist Britain’ featured the work of Tell MAMA. The programme explored the rise in racism and xenophobia following the EU Referendum result. Several months later, this topic, and the increase of cases reported to Tell MAMA were also highlighted on the BBC’s flagship Crimewatch programme.
2015 annual report launch in parliament
We launched our annual report in Parliament on June 29. This ground-breaking report titled ‘The Geography of Anti-Muslim Hatred’, it revealed that Muslim women are more likely to be attacked than men in most settings. The largest proportion of perpetrators are white males. This means that the largest proportion of incidents involves Muslim women, usually wearing Islamic clothing – be it the hijab, abaya or niqab. Verbal abuse from men often carries misogynistic, racist and Islamophobic overtones.
Working with the Crown Prosecution Service
Our response to the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) consultation on social media has helped shape their revised guidelines.
Increasing partnerships work with police forces
As we close out 2016, Tell MAMA has partnership agreements in place with 18 separate UK police forces: Metropolitan, City of London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside, Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey, Bedfordshire, Dorset, Warwickshire, West Mercia, British Transport Police and Police Service of Northern Ireland. As our Partnerships Officer Jeff Arnold said:
“Although Tell MAMA is a completely independent organisation, it is vital that we work closely with police forces so that we can improve their knowledge of anti-Muslim hatred, ensure that all hate crimes are taken seriously and help victims to access information about their cases when necessary.”
Our work in Europe
At a European level, our hate crime data continues to inform the OSCE/ODIHR on a yearly basis. Our staff contributed to the ‘Forgotten Women: the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women’ project for the European Network Against Racism (ENAR). Our continued engagement at a European level has included various speaking engagements. This included the first European Union (EU) Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights on anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim hatred and hate speech on February 16.
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Categories: Crown Prosecution Service, Hate Crimes, News, Nusrat Ghani MP, ODIHR, OSCE, police forces