#IAM2020: University of Salford Students Union

On Monday 16th November, MEND Manchester delivered an Islamophobia Awareness workshop as part of Islamophobia Awareness Month. 

University of Salford Student Union staff were invited to attend to help them gain an understanding of what Islamophobia is, the extent of Islamophobia in the UK and how the issue can be tackled. We began by clearing up some misconceptions about Islam and highlighting how Muslims can come from a range of backgrounds.

We then began by defining Islamophobia- an important step during any awareness course to help determine how we think about the issue of Islamophobia. We then had a quick discussion about why certain terms were included in the APPG definition for Islamophobia. After this discussion, we delved into the extent of Islamophobia using hate crime stats, focusing on those in the North West to highlight trends in Islamophobic attacks in the region. We also spoke about how Islamophobia manifests itself in employment and the penalties that Muslims pay when it comes to applying for jobs, being offered a job and progressing in their organisation.

 After these discussions, we moved on to look at key causes of Islamophobia and how they allow Islamophobia to take root and perpetuate. Our discussion then moved on to ways that organisations can work to tackle Islamophobia, including conversations around the importance of community engagement to further our work.

Many thanks to Sophie Wood at University of Salford SU for setting this up, and we hope to continue to work with the university over the coming year to ensure that practical steps are taken to tackle Islamophobia in the community. 

We can tailor our Islamophobia Awareness workshops to suit your organisation so get in touch to invite us in to deliver our awareness sessions!