Why Muslim Women Will Suffer The Most After The Brussels Attacks

The recent terror attacks in Belgium’s capital city, Brussels, continue to send shock waves around the world. At least 31 people were killed and more than 300 injured in the two bombings — but there may yet be additional victims we haven’t accounted for.

This is because attacks like this breed Islamophobia. The so-called Islamic State (or ISIL, ISIS or Daesh) and their affiliated cells strive to incite fear in the general public, resulting in hate-crimes against innocent, law-abiding Muslims. ISIS hopes this will isolate Muslims and push them towards the various terrorist groups’ efforts. The terror attacks are meant to be divisive, incite violence and inspire hatred.

This fear and suspicion of Islam tends to negatively impact Muslim women more so than men, for a number of reasons.

Visibility

Many Muslim women choose to wear a veil or scarf to cover their heads. The fabric can be worn in a variety of ways, from covering just the hair to covering the whole face.

Most commonly known as the hijab, women don this article of clothing because they believe that God instructs women to be modest. The decision to wear a hijab is a personal one and is meant to display their devotion to God and their faith.

Unfortunately, this act of reverence and devotion is a visual cue to those who hold Islamophobic mentalities that the woman is not to be trusted. In extreme cases, people jump to the conclusion that a woman in a hijab must be a terrorist.

This has resulted in a number of incidents where Muslim women have been victims of attacks, including a woman being pushed in front of an oncoming train and another being physically attacked on public transit.

The hijab is inaccurately perceived as being synonymous with Islam, making women wearing the garment a target of hate speech and violence.

Perceived Vulnerability

There is a misconception that Arab and Muslim women are passive and submissive, blindly following strict male authority. This stereotype can imply that Muslim women are vulnerable and unable to deal with anti-Islam attacks. This is certainly not the case for many women of this faith.

Multiple Aspects of Oppression

All women face oppression but for Muslim women, this gender-based discrimination is accompanied by oppression based on race and belonging to a marginalized faith. There are multiple societally-imposed constraints facing Muslim women, making them more likely to be victims of injustice and violence.

The wave of hate crimes against Muslims is a disturbing trend. Muslim women are especially vulnerable to such attacks. It’s for this reason that The Islamic Human Rights Commission was founded to research and monitor Islamophobia.

But it cannot be left up to one non-governmental organization to fight against this intolerance and hatred. It is everyone’s responsibility to resist Islamophobia and not act out of fear. If we do, ISIS has gotten the better of us as individuals and as a society.