Islamophobic Hate Crime: A Student Textbook

163 Pages·2019·4.243 MB·English

by  Imran Awan, Irene Zempi

ISLAMOPHOBIC HATE CRIME
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in anti-Muslim attacks. What is
driving the proliferation of these hate crimes? Why are Muslims being demonised?
Building on current research and drawing upon real-life examples and case studies,
this book provides an accessible introduction to Islamophobia and Islamophobic
hate crimesalong with the various responses to this form of victimisation. Chapters
cover a range of topics including:
(cid:1) Definitions of hate crime and Islamophobia
(cid:1) Islamophobic hate crime online
(cid:1) Gender and Islamophobia
(cid:1) Media representations of Islamophobia
(cid:1) Institutional Islamophobia
As one of the first student resources dedicated to the subject of Islamophobia,
this book will be instructive and important reading for those engaged in a range of
topics in criminology, including hate crime, victimology and victimisation, crime
and media, and gender and crime.
ImranAwanisaProfessorinCriminologyandDeputyDirectoroftheCentrefor
Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University, UK.
Irene Zempi is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Nottingham Trent Uni-
versity, UK.

ISLAMOPHOBIC HATE
CRIME
A Student Textbook
Imran Awan and Irene Zempi
Firstpublished2020
byRoutledge
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CONTENTS
List of tables vi
1 Introduction 1
2 Understanding Islamophobic hate crime 10
3 Islamophobia online and in the digital world 29
4 Gendered Islamophobia 42
5 Islamophobia and perceived Muslim identity 59
6 Using autoethnography for Islamophobic hate crimes 75
7 Institutional Islamophobia: policing, profiling, and hate 85
8 Islamophobia, terrorism, and the media 99
9 Impacts of Islamophobic hate crime 114
10 Islamophobic hate crime in Europe 126
11 Conclusion 134
Index 147
TABLES
8.1 Reference made to Woolwich in broadsheet newspapers 104
8.2 Reference made to Woolwich in regional newspapers 104
1
INTRODUCTION
Background and context
As authors of this book, we have spent our academic careers researching and inves-
tigating Islamophobic hate crimes. In our capacity as researchers and experts in this
area, we have provided several impactful reports before high-profile parliamentary
committees,publishedacademicarticles/books,andarepassionateaboutthestudyof
Islamophobic hate crimes. This has also led to independent advisory work with the
British Government and working closely with politicians and Ministers on develop-
ing our understanding of Islamophobia in Britain and beyond. Following the 9/11
and 7/7 terrorist attacks, and more recently the terrorist attacks in Paris and Tunisia
in 2015, and in Woolwich, south-east London, where British Army soldier Drum-
mer Lee Rigby was murdered in 2013, there has been a significant increase in anti-
Muslim hate attacks and hostility (Zempi and Awan 2016). Indeed, during Hate
CrimeAwarenessWeekinOctober2018(acampaigntohelpbetterunderstandhate
crimesinBritain)theUKpoliceforcerecordedasurgeinhatecrimesagainstpeople
because of their religious beliefs. According to the Home Office official data, out of
all the offences recorded, 52 per cent of offences were targeting Muslims (Home
Office 2017 to 2018). Furthermore, following the appointment of the US President
DonaldTrump(atthetimeofwriting)andtheBrexitvoteinBritain,theseincidents
haveledtoasharpincreaseinIslamophobichatecrimes.Therehavebeenreportsof
mosques being vandalised, Muslim women having their hijab (headscarf) or niqab
(face veil) pulled off, Muslim men being attacked, and racist graffiti has been
scrawled against Muslim properties.
This book fills a gap in the current research literature on Islamophobia by
bringing together a wide range of principles around Islamophobia and hate crimes.
The aim of this book is to provide an original textbook on Islamophobic hate
crime for students, practitioners, and policy-makers. In doing so, we challenge
2 Introduction
current thinking around Islamophobia and provide an in-depth academic textbook
addressing a topic that, following recent events (discussed earlier) across the world,
has become of critical importance. Our starting point for this book is based on our
experiences with our students. As academics teaching hate crime and Islamophobia
within Higher Education, our students have often expressed difficulties in the lack
of choices regarding student academic textbooks on Islamophobia. With this in
mind, we have embarked upon our vision to create the first ever student textbook
on Islamophobia that helps students and also wider stakeholders, such as commu-
nity groups, politicians, and the media, to better understand Islamophobia.
This book allows students the opportunity to examine the different processes of
victimisation,whetherbyorofindividuals,groups,families,communities,institutions,
orthestate,andgivesthemtheopportunitytobeabletoevaluatetheimpactsofIsla-
mophobia upon individuals and society. Students will also be able to examine the
development,role,organisation,andgovernanceofeffortstoreduceandpreventIsla-
mophobic crime and harm, and discuss how victims are able to ensure personal and
publicsafetyandsecurityindifferentlocations.Studentswillalsobeabletoanalyseand
evaluatetheeffectivenessofsuchmeasuresandhumanrightsissuesinrelationtopre-
ventive measures in combating Islamophobic hate crimes. It will give readers the
opportunity to formulate questions and investigate key areas of Islamophobia. The
bookwillalsohelpstudentstotakeaccountofthecomplexityanddiversityoftheways
in which Islamophobic hate crime is constituted, represented, and dealt with by dif-
ferentagenciesandbeabletomakereasonedarguments.Studentswillalsobeableto
useempiricalevidenceaboutIslamophobichatecrime,victimisationsurveys,andwider
responsestowardsIslamophobia.Someofthemoretechnicalskillsstudentswillacquire
willincludewrittenandoralcommunicationskills,includingtheclearpresentationof
research,participatinginacademicdebatesandinterrogatingtheevidence.Thebook
will work alongside the other criminology, policing, law, history, religious studies,
education,andsecuritystudiesmoduleswhereissuesofvictimisationwithinthecrim-
inaljusticesystemareexamined.Thisbookbuildsoncurrentresearchanddisseminates
newmessagesarisingfromIslamophobia,thuscontributingtowardsourunderstanding
ofIslamophobiaandrespondingtothisformofhatecrime.Abookofthisnatureislong
overdueandwehopestudentswillbeabletobenefitfromthistextbookwhichthey
canusewhenstudyingabouthatecrimes.
Key themes and concepts
This book allows students the opportunity to develop a key understanding of
criminological and sociological concepts and theoretical approaches, which have
been developedin relation toIslamophobic hate crime.It gives students and others
an opportunity to examine and conceptualise some of the key debates around
Islamophobic hate crime, policy, human rights, and victimisation. The book iden-
tifies problems around the processes of Islamophobia and victimisation, the causes
and organisation of Islamophobic hate crime, and the processes of preventing and
managing crime and victimisation in relation to Islamophobia. The main themes
Introduction 3
and objectives of this book are focusing on Islamophobic hate crime. Empirical
evidence shows that Muslims, particularly those with a ‘visible’ Muslim identity –
including wearing a veil for women and a beard for men – are more vulnerable to
verbal and physical attacks in public (see, for example, Craig 2002; Githens-Mazer
andLambert2010;PoyntingandMason2007;ZempiandChakraborti2014).This
book examines a wide range of core principles around Islamophobic hate crime
and discusses – through a student-led approach – the impact of this victimisation
upon victims, their families, and wider communities. It provides empirical research,
which examines the nature, scope, and impact of Islamophobia upon Muslims and
the wider society. The book also highlights the multidimensional nature of Isla-
mophobic hate crime, and recognises the fact that there is a relationship between
anti-Muslim attacks, especially in the globalised world. As such, this book seeks to
shed new light on a hitherto under-researched topic and to develop a more
nuanced understanding of Islamophobic hate crime. The central themes of the
book include a focus on our understanding of hate crime, globalised Islamophobic
hate incidents, and also the impact on victims and wider society:
(cid:1) Conceptualising the nature of Islamophobia
(cid:1) Autoethnography research methods
(cid:1) Barriers and victimisation
(cid:1) Gendered forms of Islamophobia
(cid:1) Online Islamophobic hate speech
(cid:1) Marginalised communities
(cid:1) Contemporary responses to Islamophobic crime
(cid:1) Institutional forms of Islamophobia
(cid:1) Islamophobic hate crimes and the media
(cid:1) Policing and Islamophobia
(cid:1) Islamophobia in the climate of Brexit and Donald Trump
How to use this textbook?
Thistextbookisanintroductiontosomeofthekeythemesanddebatessurrounding
Islamophobia today. Itshould beusedalongside other key textsand should bemore
than a companion guide. It is not an exhaustive list of all issues to do with Islamo-
phobia but picks out some of the core contemporary debates and uses an academic
and student positioning to debate and get students to think more critically about
these issues. The book will present students with insights towards a better under-
standing of criminology, sociology, and hate crime studies. It has also been designed
toact as the mainreference pointfor students undertaking summative and formative
assessments. The book is split into 11 chapters.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction and discussion about how students should
usethis textbook. Itexaminessomeof thecritical debates within Islamophobia and
uses contemporary examples, from cases such as the Punish a Muslim Day letter