After the Burkini banning debate, Islamophobia has become an even more prevalent issue, and it’s not going away. Tell MAMA, an anti-Muslim hate monitoring group, reported a whopping 326% rise in Islamophobia last year.
But, what can you do if you witness it happening in the street?
Well Marie-Shirine Yener (or Maeril, as her pen-name goes), a Parisian woman of Iranian and Armenian descent, has created a wonderful little guide to help us overcome ‘bystander syndrome’.
It was originally shared on Facebook page *
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The guide is based on a psychological technique called ‘non-complementary behaviour’, which aims to get rid of the attacker by simply fazing them out and ignoring them.
However, Maeril emphasises that you should ‘make sure to always respect the wishes of the person you’re helping: whether they want you to leave quickly afterwards, or not!’
Speaking to indy100, she says that, living in Paris, 'I do believe a lot of these attacks go under the radar as they are not being reported, since the police is known to be unsupportive of the Muslim community [sic]’
And it’s not just Islamophobia the guide can help prevent, Maeril says ‘my guide can be applied to other types of harassment and I knew that from the moment I decided to create it. I deliberately chose to focus on Muslims because they have become a target of choice.”’
One to bear in mind if you see any sort of harassment in future.
Like this? You might also be interested in:
French Police Threatening Legal Action Over Image Of Woman Being Forced To Remove Her Burkini
How Iranian Women Are Using Facebook To Protest Against The Compulsary Hijab
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.