IRU – Islamophobia listening exercise, Walsall

Mend’s Islamophobia Response Unit (IRU) held a listening exercise in Walsall, in The West Midlands.  The event was a first of this type of activity for the IRU.  At a local Council owned centre Muslim women gathered to speak with Huma Malik of the IRU and Councillor Sabina Ditta.  There was a spirited discussion with many ladies recounting their own experiences of Islamophobia.  The event was accompanied with afternoon tea and cakes, giving the ladies an opportunity to privately report some of their personal cases of Islamophobia to Huma and the IRU.

The event highlighted the need for an operation like the IRU to get to the hard to reach sections of the community, which are suffering in silence.