UCLan ISoc Causes and Cures

This week, the Islamic Society at University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) held the first of their events for Islamophobia Awareness Month. The aim of it was to give their members a baseline awareness of what Islamophobia is. It was presented by MEND and gave the attendees an opportunity to increase their understanding of the reality of Islamophobia as we move further into the month of November.

The Causes and Cures of Islamophobia is a workshop that aims to provide an insight into what Islamophobia is and how it manifests itself. It also looks into some of the ways that allow Islamophobia to continue to be perpetuated and perpetrated in society. We began by looking into the definition of Islamophobia and the journey to the APPG’s definition that has been adopted most of the major parties, and by local councils up and down the country. We then spoke about how Islamophobia can affect the lives of Muslims on a day-to-day basis. This can be in their places of employment or even in schools. By discussing the stats associated with Islamophobia, we were able to build a picture around the extent of Islamophobia.

We then moved to the causes of Islamophobia touching on biased media reporting, ineffective legislation and barriers to Muslim participation. The latter looked at how under-representation in the media industry and in the legislative process can have a real impact on how Muslims are then portrayed in the media and in how effectively legislation protects their rights. By understanding some of the causes, we were able to begin thinking about what we can do to address these issues.

As we moved on to the cures of Islamophobia, we looked at how we can tackle the problem as individuals and as a community. Local engagement and partnerships with stakeholders is particularly important to give them an awareness of the reality of the issues faced by the community so they can take the necessary steps to advocate for Muslims and to make changes towards a more inclusive and welcoming society.

We hope that the students found this useful and we’re looking forward to seeing how the society is able to use their knowledge as they plan and deliver further events as part of Islamophobia Awareness Month.

You and your organisation or group can also get involved with Islamophobia Awareness Month by visiting: http://islamophobia-awareness.org/