School Teacher faces Islamophobic abuse

Sana (not her real name), a school teacher who was called an Islamophobic slur by a pupil. Being labelled a ‘bomber’ by the pupil left Sana shocked and distressed. When she approached the school about what had happened, she was disappointed to find them slow to respond and not taking the Islamophobia seriously enough. Sana was even more troubled to discover the school had no effective procedure in place around student to teacher hate incidents and bullying.

Sana decided to contact MEND to report the incident and seek advice. Upon discussion, it was decided to resolve the dispute within the school’s internal process. Afterwards, she approached the school to lodge a formal complaint and request the school draft a procedure to deal with these types of incidents. Sana was determined that other Muslim teachers should be protected from this kind of abuse. She was pleased with the outcome of her case, as the school worked with her to implement a formal procedure. Having someone listen to her concerns and support her in finding a desired outcome was valuable.