Abstract
When four Muslim women wearing hijab were assaulted in the inner city of Sydney in 2017, the New South Wales Police later made a public statement describing the assaults as 'bias-motivated crime' (NSW Police Force 2017). This official response is significant. It is one of the few times police have publicly described an Islamophobic attack as bias crime. It is also significant because it prompts us to think about what the concept of bias crime, or hate crime, has to offer the fight against Islamophobia. This report by the Islamophobia Register documents the growing problem of Islamophobia in Australia. Thinking about Islamophobic incidents as hate crimes provides a powerful tool in tackling anti-Muslim attitudes in Australia today.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Islamophobia in Australia - II (2016-2017) |
| Editors | Derya Iner |
| Place of Publication | Sydney, N.S.W. |
| Publisher | Charles Sturt University |
| Pages | 18-26 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780648065111 |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Keywords
- hate crimes
- Islamophobia
- Australia