Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism

Definitions of Key-terms and Concepts

Chapter two mainly discusses the issue of discrimination and analyses it with reference to the elements of race, ethnicity and culture so as to demonstrate that these elements, even if they are not necessarily related to each other (Modood, 2005), tend to be intertwined and overlapped when evaluated in relation to the Muslim identity in a European context (Meer, 2017; Bleich, 2012: 165; Bloul, 2008: 21). The chapter will be divided into three different sections; the first section will cover the definitions of the most significant terms and concepts while the second part will include theoretical debates regarding the understandings of Islam and Islamic identity so as to examine how the Muslims are perceived in Europe. Ultimately, the third section of this chapter will analyse the western Anti-Muslim sentiment – by discussing the phenomena of Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim racism as a background to the public attitudes and policies towards Muslims in Europe which will be discussed in the subsequent chapter. Hence, the discussions provided in this chapter are thought to be essential for the purposes of this study as it will provide important arguments which useful in understanding the concepts and ideas evaluated in the subsequent chapters of this study.

Throughout the dissertation, there will be the use of certain terms and concepts which have relatively ambiguous meanings and have been defined by various scholars in different ways. Accordingly, it is important to examine carefully the literature for debates and criticisms in order to provide a study with precise arguments. Hence, as discussed herein, ‘discrimination’ emerges as one of the core terms, along with the notions of “integration” and “assimilation”, as well as the dimensions of racial, ethnic and cultural-religious discrimination, which are considered fundamental concepts used in the analysis of Muslim discrimination.

The Concept of Discrimination

Discrimination is believed to be one of the broadest and most heavily debated sociological concepts in the academic community; however, in this study, it will be analyzed in a much simpler way, as a socio-political issue frequently faced by groups with distinct ethnic, racial and religious identities in a dominant society (Baldwin, 2017: 1). According to Baldwin though, discrimination can also be considered as a synonym concept of prejudice, which has been described as a way of non-acceptance and intolerance towards certain groups of people by a “dominant social structure”. The same scholar has also argue that this phenomenon tends to “exist in internal cognitions but is manifest in symbol usage (verbal, nonverbal, mediated), law and policy, and social and organizational practice” (Baldwin, 2017: 1). Against this backdrop, discrimination herein is approached as a significant barrier to the integration of immigrants especially based on the arguments by Modood (2011: 4) that the latter concept – integration - is thought to be a ‘two-way process’ that needs the interaction of the majority and the minority so that it can be achieved in the host society. Additionally, Kudnani (2007: 1) argues that it is impossible to build an ‘integrated society’ without the universal values and the ideals of democracy, human rights, and social justice. Yet, as argued by Modood (2011: 10), social justice is in crisis “not just in Britain but across Europe”.

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Approaching the issue of ‘Muslim Discrimination’: The role of colour, ethnicity, and culture

In order to discuss how the Muslim Identity is perceived in a European context, the concept of discrimination needs to be narrowed and analysed as an issue of intolerance, which is linked to the elements of race, ethnicity and culture (Meer, 2017; Bleich, 2012: 165). However, according to Bleich (2012; 165), whereas the element of culture has a central role, the others are also significant in the case of minorities with Islamic identity in Europe, who predominantly represent distinct ethnic, racial and religious groups. Therefore, there will be a discussion herein of the element of culture in order to understand the issue of Muslim discrimination in Europe. More specifically, in an attempt to evaluate the meaning and nature of racial discrimination, Macrae et al (1996: 286) identified it as a phenomenon of anti-Black attitudes and stereotypical or negative racial behaviour against the people of colour. Thus, considering Macrae et al’s opinion, this form of discrimination shows predominantly the all-time classic issue of race superiority: the supremacy of the white over the black race (Macrae et al. 1996: 286). However, the high-level criticism targeted at Macrae et al’s definition of racial discrimination in the context of Muslim discrimination makes it inappropriate and incomprehensive for the purpose of this study because there are other scholars who have taken a more comprehensive view of the phenomenon. For instance, Tariq Modood (2005; 7) - who followed more contemporary and argumentative approach in order to explain the issue of Muslim penalty in the UK- suggested that particularly “Asians suffer a double or a compound racism” in Britain. Equally, Modood (2005) identifies that there are “complexities of racism” and assumed that there is a different dimension of racism which is much more appropriate in analysing racial discrimination. Specifically, Modood (2005:13) argues that the interaction of racial and religious discrimination in the secular European societies has resulted in the rise of cultural racism, which is a phenomenon linked to the “post-biological racist cultural intolerance”. However, the same scholar also mentioned that “it is much more likely that the hostility against perceived cultural difference will be directed primarily against non-whites rather than against white minorities” (Modood, 2005:13). Hence, according to Modood’s perspectives, this form of discrimination – cultural racism - could be approached as the issue of “prejudice directed only at those members of a racial group who practice a certain culture/ religion”.

Likewise, ‘ethnicity’, similarly to race, is considered as an element which is not ‘fixed’ (Baldwin, 2017) but it can change through the time as it is primarily derived by social, political, economic forces and boundaries (Modood, 2005: 22). On the same note, Modood (2005: 21) opine that ‘ethnic groups’ constitute group identities which tend to be created “within political and ideological processes” under certain socio-political circumstances. Moreover, Modood (2005: 22) also explains the concept of ‘ethnicity’ as a phenomenon which refers to certain “features of a group, and of a membership in a group, defined by descent”. Nonetheless, according to Baldwin (2017: 10), the issue of ethnic discrimination has been defined, in a simple or may be relatively simplistic way, as the phenomenon of prejudiced beliefs and attitudes on the grounds of historical differences. However, this phenomenon seems to be much more complex as explained by other scholars. For instance, Modood (2005: 51) write that discrimination could be linked to a kind of prejudice in terms of distinctive community structure, norms, and history as well as religion, language or custom which can be linked to common and distinctive ways of thinking and behavior. However, Modood (2005:22) also argue that not all of these dimensions exist necessarily in each case and that one major aspect of ethnic difference is the cultural distinctiveness, which is related to certain practices and norms “such as arranged marriage, the existence of specific gender roles, or a religion”. Furthermore, suggestions have also been made that race and ethnicity also have a connection because the phenomenon of ethnic categorization is “underneath or beyond a case of racist categorization”, and that distinct ethnic groups “can predate racism, can be shaped by it, but can also survive it” (Modood, 2005:51). Take a deeper dive into Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism with our additional resources.

Discrimination versus Assimilation

Jansen argues that cultural racism or cultural discrimination tends to be interrelated with other socio-political phenomena such as secularization or assimilation. Hence, this study considers it important to evaluate the link between the two concepts in order to explain the European attitudes and treatment towards Muslims – due to the fact that in western European societies, it has been a popular political strategy towards the Islamic minorities (Cesari, 2013; Scalvini, 2006). More specifically, Simpson and Yinger (1985: 16) are of the opinion that there are various levels of assimilation as well as numerous ways in which assimilation is applied as a policy from place to place. In this study though, this concept will be approached both as an “illiberal” theory and as a political system which “has come to be dropped in favor of ‘integration’” (Modood, 2011: 4) – similarly to discrimination - as it tends to ignore the individual’s freedoms, and based on the “oppressive colonial sides” of the West (Jansen, 2013: 33). Kundnani (2007: 32) writes that in many cases, distinct ethnoreligious groups are forced to assimilate the dominant cultural traits and values so as not to be excluded or stigmatized in the host society. However, it is possible to argue that assimilation occurs predominantly when the social interactions between “groups are seen as one way” (Modood, 2011: 4) and particularly when the dominant states make use of extreme ethnocentric measures and nationalistic practices to eliminate certain culturally distinct groups. In this regard, Simpson and Yinger (1985: 15) suggest that assimilation can also take place when authorities want to promote a monolingual and monoculture political system, where cultural minorities face lack of freedom “to speak their own language” and/ or “practice their own religions” and/ or “follow their own customs”. Additionally, Mirza (2016: 592) opines that assimilation aims to achieve cultural neutrality and it can be harmful to the development of the identity of culturally distinct people in Europe.

The perceptions around Islam and Islamic identity in Europe and in the UK

Upon analysing the concept of discrimination along with the notions of ethnicity, culture, and racism, it is also important to discuss the discourse regarding the perceptions of Islam and Islamic identity, in order to understand how the Muslims groups are identified in a western context. Noteworthy, in this study, the issue of identity will be studied as a dynamic on going “process and not a given phenomenon” due to the fact that it can be easily transformed in regards to constructs of place and the time (Bloul, 2008: 8). Similarly, it is important to bear in mind the aforementioned argument that the categories of race, ethnicity and religion, even if they have been studied as different elements of identity and there is necessarily no connection between each other (Modood, 2005: 42), they tend to be interrelated when they are studied along with the performance and treatment of Muslims - not only in the UK but also in a broader European context. (Meer, 2017; Bleich, 2012: 165; Bloul, 2008: 21).

“Religion is ‘raced’ and Muslims are racialised” (Vakil, Sayyid, 2010: 276)

More analytically, according to Baldwin (2017: 13), every group with a distinct identity is symbolized and identified in a certain way in certain contexts, under specific socio-political circumstances. Likewise, considering the theories of Post colonialism and Orientalism (the former theory built upon the latter), as well as the assertions of various scholars (Baldwin, 2017: 13; Modood, 2005: 7), the Middle Eastern and South-Asian identities with Islamic background tend to be perceived as ‘Other’ in a European context. Similarly, Garner and Selod (2014: 1-11) highlight the racialization of Islam and Muslims in the western societies while, Modood (2005: 38), who was mainly focused on the case of Britain, supports that the “increasing racialization” of culturally distinct identities – mainly – Asians, which came along with “a racialization of other culturally different Asians, Arabs, and non-white Muslims”. Furthermore, Bloul (2008: 18) also argue even though religion is considered as an important element to identify the Islamic identity in Europe, there are also “various Muslim ethnic groups within it”; in this way, Islam can be perceived and approached as “’ethnic-religion’” when studied in a European context – while European Muslims have also adopted a recognized ethnoreligious identity (Bloul 2008: 17). However, it is important to mention that the former statement is not considered as a generally accepted fact and there are other scholars who reject or argue with this viewpoint and consider the European Islamic identity in different ways (Jansen, 2013: 97).

Perceptions of the Islamic Feminine Identity

An evaluation of how the Muslim feminine identity is understood in the western context is pivotal to the analysis of the unequal treatment of the women in the UK as will be done in the subsequent sections of this study. As already mentioned though, the elements of ethnicity, race, and religion, even if they are not essentially linked to each other, they tend to be well connected when examined along with the Islamic identity in a European context (Meer, 2017; Bleich, 2012: 165; Bloul, 2008: 21). Hence, against this background, it is not important to separate the elements of ethnicity, race, and religion from the categories of gender and sexism in the study of the issue of Muslim women’s performance and treatment in the UK (Modood, 2005: 42). More analytically, according to Dwyer (2010: 5) the Muslim woman’s identity in Europe has been constructed as highly radicalized and gendered while particularly the Islamic dress is considered as one of the most significant parts of her identity: “dress is an over determined signifier”. Dwyer also argues that that the “embodied differences” of the women with Islamic identity determine their social position and contribute significantly to “the discursive formation of ‘Muslim women’”. Similarly, it is suggested that the binary positions between the ‘Western lifestyle’ and the ‘traditional Islam’ became even more apparent in the case of women, due to the bodily markers and the ‘visibility of being Muslim’: the religious identifiers and more specifically, the ceiling “represent what is considered a backward faith which disrupts western ways of life” (Wadia, 2016). Furthermore, the Islamic dress is thought to be one of the most important reasons why the Muslim women tend to be perceived “as passive victims of oppressive cultures” (Dwyer, 2010: 7) especially in the UK and in a wider European context, given the fact that veiling is also understood as a gender-biased symbol of patriarchy (Soiltani, UNU, 2016).

Analysing the Anti-Muslim sentiment in the West

The emergence of Islamophobia and the link to Orientalism

Upon understanding the ways in which the Islamic Identity are perceived in the European context, it is also important to evaluate the Anti-Muslim sentiment and analyze the relevant concepts in order to provide explicit support of arguments presented by this study. More specifically, in regards to the emergence of Islamophobia as a term, Bleich (2011: 1582) argues that even if it is a relatively new word, it is not a new phenomenon as it has its roots on Orientalism. All in all, the latter phenomenon was developed for the first time in the 1970s, so as to explain and interpret the upcoming Western “sentiments and stereotypes” towards the Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures (Bleich, 2011: 1582; Poole: 2002: 18). Bleich (2011: 1582) argues further that Islamophobia is considered a predominantly socio-political issue while as a term, it started to become widely popular in the Western societies around the late, the 1990s and early 2000s - mainly by political activists, non-governmental and international organizations or public and academic commentators. Bleich also opines that the cause for the emergence of Islamophobia was not only to inform but also to prevent: namely, it was aiming both to raise the public awareness as well as to prevent from the “harmful rhetoric and actions directed against Islam and Muslims in Western liberal democracies” (2011: 1581). However, it is also widely known that the events of 9/11 and all the terrorist attacks which followed in Europe played a determinant role in spreading widely the concept in the western world (Marranci, 2006).

Meanings and Definitions

Scholars have taken two majorly different approaches to explain the meaning of the term ‘Islamophobia’ or ‘Anti-Muslim racism’. For instance, Feldman has suggest that the concepts of Islamophobia or Anti-Muslim racism is mostly related to the unfounded hatred against Islam (2017) as religion and culture as in the context of Islamic fundamentalist politics - while on the other hand, Shadid and Koningsveld (2002: 175) argue that it is mainly an issue of intolerance directly “against Muslims as a group of people” in the western societies. However, this study will be based on Meer’s (2017) approach, according to whom, there is not such a difference between the two aforementioned explanations of Islamophobia, as, in practice, they tend to be correlated and overlapped. In relation to the aforementioned arguments and explanations over the term Islamophobia, it is possible to extrapolate that Islamophobia or Anti-Muslim racism constitute more elements than just ‘a simple dislike of people with Islamic background’. Similarly, the explored definitions and arguments reveal that the term Islamophobia does not have one universal meaning and therefore cannot be defined in a specific way. However, it is possible to approach and explain the phenomenon as the issue of violated rights and prejudice, predominantly against Middle Eastern (Bloul, 2008: 10; Ford, 2008) and South Asian (Modood, 2005) minorities with Muslim identity, who are mainly people of colour and are “perceived as a realistic and symbolic threat” (Ciftci, 2012: 293) when they live as immigrants in European societies. Nevertheless, this definition cannot be perceived as a comprehensive one because in the subsequent chapters of this paper will reveal other groups of black people with Muslim identity such as Muslim Somalis – who tend to be victims of discriminatory attitudes and mistreatment in the UK (CLG, 2009: 8; OSF: 2008: 8).

Criticisms and Aspects of the term

There are a few different perspectives from scholars who approach the term Islamophobia in a more argumentative way. For instance, according to Bloul’s (2008) criticism, ‘Islamophobia’ is perceived as an inappropriate word for the Anti-Muslim attitudes and the policies in the western societies and that the term can be replaced by the term: ‘Islamic-inspired politics’. Moreover, Ismail (2014) has also stated that the growth of the term could be potentially “intertwined with the rise of right-wing religious reactionaries”. Other scholars have also talked about the dimensions of Islamophobia. For instance, according to Meer (2017) and Cesari (2013), the Islamophobia refers to a phenomenon with racial and political aspects - apart from the cultural/religious dimension, while Bloul (2008:10) and Everett et al (2015: 90) support that Islamophobia “seems to be on a gradual rise” in Europe during the past decade. On the same note, Torrekens and Jacobs (2015: 325) though also opine that Islamophobia tends to become “increasingly mobilized by populist political entrepreneurs”. Furthermore, Rafat-Nabi (2011) and Marranci (2006) have discussed the issue of institutionalized Islamophobia. More specifically, the latter scholar talks about the western Media as a noticeable source of Muslim misrepresentation. Moreover, Marranci (2006; 107) suggest that in several cases, Muslim men have been represented as patriarchal extremists while Muslim women as submissive and oppressed. Rafat Nabi (2011) though, observes that the spread of Islamophobia in institutions such as the British universities as an answer to the rising terrorism in Europe.

Theoretical Background

Muslims in a Western Context

Attitudes and Policies towards Muslims in Europe

In order to have a thorough analysis of the performance and penalties faced by population groups in the UK with Muslim background, this chapter aims to have ‘wider picture’: namely, how the Muslims have been treated beyond the UK, in a broader European context, and how the attitudes have been shifted during the past few decades. Furthermore, this chapter aims to show that certain events that have occurred in the past few years have played an important role in shifting the public’s attitudes and policies towards the Muslims in Europe. Ideally, this chapter is considered useful as a source of background knowledge for the purposes of this study as it seeks to provide more consistent understandings of the topic under investigation - in relation to the disadvantages experienced by Muslim minorities in Britain, - as well as in order to answer one of the research sub-questions: How the Muslims have been treated in a European context in the post-immigration period?

Rising Muslim Hostility in Europe

Changing perceptions and attitudes towards Muslims

The intense public discourse around the “Clash of Civilisations” (Eid, 2014: 75), with the conservative Islam into the increasingly secular and “mainstream” Europe of modernity, played an important role in expanding the cultural chasm and the “attitudinal divide” (PRC, 2006) between Muslims and Europeans (Joppke, 2004: 248). Bloul (2008: 7) and Fakete (2004) also observe that there was - and there still is - a considerable tendency by some European governments to perceive that certain culturally diverse groups with certain religious beliefs constitute potential threats for the dominant cultures and the liberal secular societies. Likewise, according to a survey by OSI (2010) and Joppke (2004: 240), the European Union has also made use of inappropriate or unsuccessful immigration policies towards certain minority groups in order to cope with the political and cultural conflicts in the western security states. Furthermore, many European Union leaders have promoted more “monocultural homogeneity through assimilation” policies and practices (Fekete, 2004: 3) so as to protect and preserve not only the national identity but also the cohesion and national security (Meer, 2017; Kundnani, 2007: 26) of the states. In this regard, it is important to analyze the continuously rising anti-immigrant and especially anti-Islamic attitudes and policies in Europe (Fekete, 2004: 4; Bloul, 2008: 7) before examining the Muslim underperformance and mistreatment in the UK, and to ask whether there exists a crisis with Muslim victim. It is widely known that the immigration flow of Muslim groups in Europe is not a recent phenomenon; the movement from the East has dated back three hundred years ago with the Arab traders and seamen from Somalia and Yemen (Poole, 2002: 19). However, a massive influx of economic migration – predominantly South Asians - started in the 1950s and headed predominantly to Germany, France, and England; albeit presently, immigration has expanded in most places around the world (Scalvini, 2006; Poole, 2002: 19). However, as Scalvini (2006: 3) observes, over the past few years, there is a widespread crisis, which is partly linked to the immigration and the religious diversity in the secular liberal states of Western Europe. Likewise, according to Bloul (2008) and Garner et. al (2014: 9), this crisis occurred accompanied by increased biased attitudes and anti-immigration policies – which have affected the Muslim communities and more specifically, led to segregation and prejudice against the “non-European” Scalvini (2006:4) Islamic identities. Furthermore, Meer (2017) opines that the continuously increased visibility of Muslim people with Islamic markers and symbols in public spaces is also another factor that contributed to the rising binary positions, threatening the ‘Western civilization’ and dividing the Western publics (PRC, 2006). Noteworthy, the biased perceptions and attitudes tended to stigmatize not only the newcomer immigrants and asylum seekers but also the second generation of Muslims with European citizenship (Scalvini, 2016; Eid, 2014: 99; Fakbete, 2004: 8). In this regard, a question that arises among scholars is that: “Who is more suspect than a young Muslim man with no police record?” (Fakete, 2004: 9). The issues of religious fundamentalism along with the radical political Islam and the extremist Islamic laws - such as the “honour killings” (Fakete, 2004: 18-19) - contributed in shaping both the attitudes towards Islam as well as the treatment of Muslims in the European states (Cesari, 2013; Shadid, Koningsveld, 2002: 174). Likewise, according the PRC (2006), a row of socio-political events which took place over the last decades, such as the continuing wars and the conflicts in the Middle East, the revolutions in Iran and Afghanistan, the war in the former Yugoslavia, the Gulf War and the Rushdie Affair (Shadid, Koningsveld, 2002: 174) along with the recurrent war in Syria or the conflicts between Israel and Palestine (Sian, 2012: 233), are also considered as events which greatly influenced the attitudes of the Westerners towards the Middle East and the Islamic world in general. These arguments corroborate with the findings of a survey by the Pew Research Centre (2006), that the aforementioned political occurrences are the factors which had significant impact not only on the relations between the Islamists and the Westerners but also on the European policies and practices - which are also considered that have been highly influenced by the public opinion especially in relation to “policy responsiveness and policy feedback work as a policy-opinion circle” (ESS, 2017: 5). Furthermore, Bloul (2008, 17, 18) has stated that in many cases certain measures have also reflected symbolic violence or widened the public fear and intolerance towards Islam, while according to Scalvini (2006: 2), some of them even limited “the religious freedom of Muslims”. Similarly, the integrationist measures were disapproved widely and replaced by austere assimilationist policies so as to obtain national security (Fakete, 2004: 18).

Examples of assimilationist policies towards Muslims in Europe

It is important to refer to specific examples of assimilationist policies in the European politics which have shown the presence of discrimination and prejudice towards Muslims. For instance, Cesari (2013) has mentioned a few noticeable examples, such as the political debates regarding the mosques and the minarets or the halal food which took place in Britain and other European countries while according to Jansen (2013: 15), the most extreme example of European policy is thought to be the ‘hijab fair’. According to the policy, - which was based on “’French secularism’ or ‘laicism’ and took place in France in 1989 - Muslim women were not allowed to wear head and face veils, - namely, their hijabs, niqaabs or burqas (different types of headscarves) - in public institutions, like schools. Jansen (2013: 46) suggest that the laicism measure was based on a difference-blind policy while Fakete (2004: 18) opines that it was a practice which was intolerant of ‘symbols of patriarchy’ and “anti-western sentiment”. Thus, it is important to notice that there is a great irony behind this policy, given the fact that the Westerners tend to blame the Easterners regarding the gender biased laws and the unfair treatment of Muslim women (PRC, 2006).

The consequences of the ‘war on terror’

Besides the aforementioned facts, the war against the Islamic terrorism and the violent Islamism which spread widely around the European countries and took place when certain terrorist attacks occurred in large cosmopolitan centres are considered to have contributed to a change in the attitudes of the European governments. To explain further, according to Jansen (2013: 16), the popular ‘war on terror’ in Europe took place ‘officially’ mainly after the 9/11 attacks and the bombings in London and Madrid in 2005 and 2004 respectively. However, it is important to note that in the present period, the situation tends to become more intense after every attack – or after an assumption is made that the attack was carried out by an Islamist or a group of Islamists– (Bloul, 2008, Fakete, 2004: 9-10). These intense terrorist situations in Europe was followed by processes of institutionalised Islamophobia with a broad Anti-Islamic policy culture and counter-terrorism measures which supposed that had and still have an important impact on the “(mis)perceptions” (Eid, 2014: 102) and the unfair treatment of Muslims in Europe (Abbas, 2008: 287; Fakete, 2004: 4): “Muslim youth are locked into a cycle of discrimination and criminalisation” (Fakete, 2004: 12). Specifically, according to a survey by the Pew Research Centre (2006), which investigated the shifts in the attitudes of the Europeans towards the Muslim groups, the negative associations of Muslims have increased significantly over the last few decades in a broader European context. Based on the aforementioned arguments on the socio-political position of Muslims, it is possible to argue that the former groups have been treated as “illiberal menace” (Meer, 2017) and tend to become increasingly vulnerable when they live as immigrants in European states.

Analysis

Muslim Identities and penalties in the UK

In the preceding chapters, this paper has analysed some of the important concepts which reveal how Islam and Islamic identity are perceived in a European context. Moreover, the paper has evaluated a theoretical background i.e. the anti-Islamic attitudes and policies towards the Muslims in Europe. Henceforth, this paper seeks to give a thorough analysis of the penalties faced by groups with Islamic background in the UK. Whereas the previous chapters took a wider perspective of the Muslim in the UK, the following chapter of the paper will take a more focused perspective to critically analyse the concept ‘Muslim group” and the Islamic identities in the UK so as to study carefully specific cases of discrimination which are experienced by particular ethnic and gender groups with Islamic background in Britain. More analytically, the first section of this chapter will be a debate regarding the Muslim identities in the UK while the second section will be a discussion about the treatment of Muslims in the British social institutions – particularly the educational and health systems – as well as their performance in the labour market, where there will be a further analysis of the groups that face additional penalties. The third section of this chapter will be focused on the case of women with Islamic background in order to examine their additional forms of discrimination, the role of veiling and particularly, in which way it can affect their socio-political position in Britain. However, it is important to acknowledge that this chapter is based on the principle argument that there are certain Muslim groups in the UK, who are more vulnerable and tend to be treated in a more disadvantaged way (Khattab, 2009; Modood, 2005) - compared to white British or other ethnic and faith groups - while particular groups of Muslim women tend to face further forms of discrimination on account of their religion, ethnicity, and gender (Wadia, 2016).

Muslim Identities

Diverse Muslim groups’ in Britain

Evidence by scholars reveals that there are diverse Muslim communities in the UK (i.e. Muslim Groups). This means that there exists heterogeneity with regards to the Muslim community and these groups face a variety of penalties that will separately be evaluated in the subsequent sections. Unsurprisingly, many scholars have used the term ‘Muslim group’ or ‘Muslim community’ to refer to the Islamic populations who live as immigrants in western countries (Isakjee, 2014, CRG, 2009: 7). However, the two terms been heavily criticised, given the fact that people with Islamic background do not constitute a homogeneous minority but they are “growing and diverse populations” (DLaird, 2007) – and particularly in the UK, they constitute the most diverse groups (Isakjee, 2014). Furthermore, according to MCB (2018), Britain is considered as a host to one of the most diverse Muslim communities globally. In a relevant publication, Isakjee (2014) – researcher at University of Birmingham - argues that “there is not such a thing as Muslim ‘community” in Britain because there are many distinct Islamic groups with different characteristics who come from various cultural and national backgrounds and they “subscribe to a wide spectrum of doctrines”. Moreover, Isakjee (2014) write that that before the Rushdie Affair in Britain, Islamic minorities were not even “conceptualised by religious identity”, but ethnic groups were “more legitimate conceptions of migrant communities”. However, according to the MCB (2018), “Islam is the second largest faith group in the United Kingdom” while the latest census reveals that there exist 2.8 million Muslims in the UK with 42% of them being born in Britain. Likewise, three-quarters of Muslims live in Greater London, the West Midlands, in Yorkshire and the North West of England (CLG, 2009). According to MCB (2018), a majority of the Muslims who live in the UK are South-Asians and predominantly Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who immigrated to Britain mainly after the Second World War. However, there is also a considerable number of Irani, Iraqi, African – especially Somalis – Indian and Arab groups as well as populations from Turkey, the Balkans and south-east Asia (MCB, 2018). However, the most recent arrivals were from Algerians, Afghanis, Iraqis and some Somalians (CLG, 2009). Equally, according to MCB (2018), since there is a large number of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in the UK, there is a tendency by researchers to study the former minorities as case studies and thus, it is a frequent phenomenon to use them as a proxy in several studies and statistics. Isakjee (2014) asserts that the Pakistanis from Kashmir region and especially the Karachi and Islamabad, as well as Bangladeshis tend to be the poorest and most disadvantaged minorities with extremely low social status in the UK. Likewise, according to a report by the Communities Local Government (2009:8), the British Somali minorities, “parts of which are one of the longest established communities in Britain, remains particularly marginalised”, while the survey by the Open Society Foundations (2014: 8) also demonstrated that they tend to face increased unequal opportunities. However, it has been suggested that although in general terms, there are Muslim groups who face high levels of discrimination in several areas, there is great diversity regarding their performance and treatment in the UK, while the level of penalty depends on multiple variables such as their legal status, their class background, their gender and other factors such as racial and national stereotypes as well as the professional status, the educational level and the language skill of each individual (CLG, 2009). In the following section, there will be a more analytical evaluation of certain cases of Muslim penalty in the UK using empirical examples to support the analysis.

Muslim Penalty in the British Education, Health, and Labour Market

This part of the thesis will discuss the issue of mistreatment which is faced by groups with Islamic background in Britain by analysing their performance in education, health, and the labour markets separately. The main argument is that not all Muslims face the same level of discrimination in these sectors; however, certain groups - such as Pakistanis, Bangladeshis (Modood, 2005) and Somalis (OSF, 2014) - tend to experience more penalties while their levels of disadvantage can vary depending on multiple factors (Khattab, Modood, 2015; Khattab, 2012). In relation to the structure of this section, it will be separated in three distinct sub-sections; the first and the second subsections will be focused on the British educational and healthcare systems respectively while the third sub-section will discuss the labour market performance, emphasizing the cases of the most disadvantaged groups.

Education and Muslim Penalties in the UK

“Young Muslims already encounter significant barriers in the education system itself” (Social Mobility Commission, 2017: 7) According to the Social Mobility Commission and (2017: 26) and the Open Society Institute (2010) - the education system, which exists in one place, can contribute significantly to the integration of different ethnic and faith groups. Likewise, OSI (2010: 92) suggest that the educational achievement constitutes a necessary tool for the individuals in order to obtain “skills and qualifications for participation in the labour market, while it can also become “a key driver of social mobility”. However, according to the surveys by the SMC (2017) and the OSI (2010), there is relatively a high rate of unequal treatment within the British education system, and this has affected mainly the students with an Islamic background. Moreover, according to Khattab (2009: 319), there is “indisputable link between being a Muslim in the UK and the likelihood of facing educational and occupational disadvantages”. These remarks corroborate with those of Modood’s (2005: 38) that there are additional discriminatory practices towards “radicalized groups that have distinctive cultural identities” These pieces of evidence regarding educational penalties which are faced by young Muslims in Britain seems to be relatively comprehensive and the fact that they are qualitative and quite recent in nature shows their accuracy in the analysis of reports and responses from the students, teachers, and parents (SMC, 2017: 4; OSI, 2010: 101). Moreover, these research evidences generally support the argument that it is a frequent occurrence for teachers and peers to show stereotypical and Islamophobia attitudes towards pupils with Islamic background: “Discrimination by teachers emerged as an important issue in several cities” (OSI, 2010: 101). Furthermore, existing evidence reveal that in several cases the school environment tend to be non-inclusive for Muslim pupils as there is considerably poor religious education in the UK and therefore students have limited awareness and understanding regarding the Islamic “cultural values and norms” and thus they tend to lack “interpersonal engagement” with their Muslim pupils (SMC, 2017: 23-26). Furthermore, according to the Open Society Institute, (2010: 108), teachers tend to have low expectations for pupils with an Islamic background and this has a negative impact on their educational attainment. Moreover, according to the reports by Muslim students who participated in the SMC (2017) survey misconceptions about Islam along with social activities, where alcohol tend to be the main focus, have also demotivated them from engaging with non-Muslim peers and this has also negatively affected their educational aspirations. Similarly, according to the same survey, the lack of diversity in British institutions and especially the limited number of Muslim teachers in schools, along with the teachers’ failure to develop a good understanding regarding the Islamic identity and the pupils’ needs are thought to be important factors contributing to pupils’ low performance in schools. However, research reveals that not all Muslims face the same negative experiences within the British education system. For instance, the survey by the Social Mobility Commission (2017: 1) has established that the educational achievement is highly linked to further societal issues while the educational penalties are also relevant to additional dimensions such as the pupils’ “socio-economic background” and patterns relating to race, gender and culture. For example, Khattab (2009: 317), who evaluated the issue of Muslim educational and occupational attainment in the UK and especially the performance of South-Asian minorities - mainly the young Pakistanis and Bangladeshis assumed to be the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities in the UK (Khattab, 2009; Thapar, Sanghera, 2010: 3), suggested that these minorities tend to face high levels of educational underachievement. Nevertheless, according to the report by the Communities Local Government (2009: 26), the long-established Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups seem to have made relative progress in their educational performance while the Open Society Foundations (2014) also remark that Somali youths in London still suffer extreme disadvantage in education. Specifically, according to Open Society Foundations (2014: 65), Somali boys are more vulnerable to experience high levels of underachievement in the British mainstream schools, speculatively as a result of teachers’ mistreatment or by lack of parental support as the parents usually struggle “to be involved in their children’s education”. Existing literature also reveal that even more female students with Islamic background face a further penalty in higher education as they tend to become victims of parental pressure or societal stereotypes which frequently prevent them from continuing their education in order to achieve higher qualifications (Dale et al, 2002: 962, Modood, Berthood, 1997). However, according to the literature, “there is a marked increase in the numbers of young Pakistani and Bangladeshi women” who attend the higher education (Dale et al, 2002: 962), while in some cases, the number of women “is now higher than that of Muslim men” (HC, 2017: 16). Studies by CLG (2009: 27) also reveal that Indian and Pakistani Muslim girls “are doing particularly well in education and moving into professional careers”. However, the Social Mobility Commission (2017: 38, 58) has also stated that the educational penalty potentially still exists for the women with Islamic background due to stereotypes, not only in the society but also in the school environment. This is exemplified by the few cases that have been reported, where teachers in conservative Islamic schools seem to have “traditional views of girls’ roles in” Social Mobility Commission (2017:3).

Furthermore, considering the fact that the educational attainment tends to be tightly linked to the social mobility, it is possible to argue that the Muslim penalty in the British education has also affected the levels of social mobility, – and vice versa - which in the present period, seem to be much lower compared to the past (SMC, 2017: 6). However, it is important to note that although a variety of research findings have shown that discrimination could be caused by the fact that non-Muslim teachers and peers struggle to engage with Muslim students (SMC, 2017: 2), the survey by OSI has found that there is also a considerable number of British schools and institutions which have managed to find successful strategies for ensuring effective integration of culturally distinct pupils. However, in relation to the attainment of Muslim students in the higher education, it is argued that “they are still disproportionally under-represented” although there is limited research data on “Muslim student’s entry to university, and their attainment there” (HC, 2017: 33). Against this backdrop, and based on the existing evidence, it is possible to argue that the youths with Islamic background tend to be treated unequally in the British education, while certain groups usually face more penalties than others. Nonetheless, this study acknowledges the suggestions by several other scholars that the issue of Muslim disadvantage in British education needs further research with a multidimensional approach in order to have a better understanding regarding what extent and for what reasons each group has been affected.

Muslims in the British Healthcare System

“(…) the NHS, as a collective institution, reproduces societal hierarchy and enhances a discourse separating the British national Self from the Muslim Other” (Schreiber, 2014: 2) Upon evaluating and understanding the key aspects of the penalties faced by Muslims in British education system, it is important to examine in what way the groups with Islamic background have been treated by the British National Health Service (NHS) as well as how this treatment has affected their quality of health in the UK. As it has been already argued though, the British South-Asian communities – who are predominantly Muslim – frequently face further forms of discrimination and in this way, they tend to become more vulnerable when they live as immigrants in Britain (Ismail, 2014; Modood, 2005). Similarly, in the previous subsections of this paper, reference has been made to the studies by, Khattab, 2009: 317) that the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities usually experience additional inequalities in the British education system, besides the emphasis made on the performance of Muslim women. Thus, in the second part of this chapter specific arguments will be made and proven that there are certain Muslim communities who are vulnerable to face health penalties in the UK (Schreiber, 2014: 2).

Measuring the Inequalities in Health

In order to validate the above-mentioned argument, it is important to understand the methodologies and techniques used in measuring the penalties faced by Muslims within the British healthcare system. Noteworthy, a few decades ago, most of the scholars who studied the issue of ethnoreligious disadvantages they based their arguments on genetic and cultural factors to explain the health disparities which are faced by ethnic minorities. However, other scholars have criticised such techniques (Nazroo, 2008; Karlsen, Nazroo, 2002; Nazroo, 1998: 710) and instead focused on measuring these penalties using the external structural factors which can affect the quality of health (Karlsen, Nazroo, 2002: 624). For instance, according to the relevant literature, health penalties are associated and can vary in relation to the educational attainment as well as the occupation and income or socio-economic status (Schreiber, 2014: 2; D Laird et al, 2007, Nazroo, 2003: 277). Nonetheless, Schreiber (2014:13) also observes that “individual’s health influences, and is also influenced by their socio-economic circumstances” while poor health itself usually becomes “a factor re-producing socio-economic status”. Thus, according to the above arguments and considering that there is a strong connection between the quality of health and the socio-economic status, it is possible to argue that British South-Asians and predominantly the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities who tend to be the most socially disadvantaged and tend to face educational penalty in the UK (Khattab, 2009), are also more likely to face unequal treatment in the British healthcare system and experience poor quality of health (Schreiber, 2014: 2-5). More analytically, literature by Karlsen and Nazroo (2009: 111) on the issue of health disparities faced by Muslim South-Asians in Britain, argue that it is more common for Pakistani and Bangladeshi men and women to self-report cases of bad health, while they are also at a higher risk to face poor self-health assessments, raised waist-hip ratio, diabetes (Alam et al, 2011: 155) and long-standing illness. According to further research findings though, the latter – long-standing illness - is even worse especially for Pakistani women who are more likely to experience the highest rates in the UK (Schreiber, 2014: 30). Likewise, Bhui et al (2007) reveal some evidence suggesting that South Asian women face a high risk of self-harm albeit; there are not clear rates or further explanatory factors. Schreiber (2014: 30) has also mentioned though that generally, South Asians seem to have considerably low rates of healthy lifestyle, low levels of physical activity, increased levels of smoking and unhealthy nutrition while Alam et al (2011: 155) note that predominantly, Bangladeshi communities tend to face limited access to psychological services in Britain. Furthermore, relevant literature discussing the health status of British Somalis also reveal that the Muslim community in Britain faces mental health issues as well as poor physical conditions, possibly due to poor accommodation and well-being (OSF, 2014: 97). However, researchers suggested that one of the reasons why certain Islamic communities face poor health in the British health system is the lack of proper healthcare knowledge which is possibly caused by limited access to relevant health information (Schreiber, 2014; Alam et al, 2011: 155). Specifically, focusing on the issue of unfair treatment in Britain’s NHS, it has available literature reveals that one of the most prominent factors which causing unequal opportunities is the problematic interaction between the GP and the patients – mostly Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Somalis - mainly due to language barriers, poor communication skills and lack of understanding (OSF, 2014: 97). Furthermore, more than 50% of the respondents in a survey by the Department of Health (2008:28), said that “their GP had not provided advice on diet and exercise, whilst 72 per cent said that their GP had not asked about emotional issues affecting their health”. Likewise, a survey by the OSF (2014) reveals reports by Somalis in London claiming that they have experienced discrimination and poor treatment in the British health system.

In general terms, it is possible to make conclusion that despite the existing evidence of various health penalties faced by Muslims in the British healthcare system, the Department of Health, i.e. British NHS has made a significant progress in providing better quality of health to the disadvantaged groups (Schreiber, 2014: 32-33; DH, 2008: 11). In fact, Schreiber (2014: 35) opine that the issue of health penalty is hard to overcome as long as health institutions exist in societies where socio-political and economic hierarchies are reproduced and tend to be based on nationalistic patterns. However, although “research has been repeatedly documented” regarding the social dimension of health and ethnic differentials (Nazroo, 2003: 277), there is limited updated empirical work with multiple variables to investigate the extent to which the health outcomes have been affected (Schreiber, 2014: 36). Likewise, Alam et al (2011: 156) also suggest that the “’access to healthcare’ is a complex concept” and further research with multidimensional approaches is needed in order to provide more consistent arguments relating to the health penalty which is faced by groups with a Muslim background in the UK.

Muslim Discrimination in the British Labour Market

The third and last part of this section will be focused on the performance and treatment of Muslim groups in the British labour market, which is one of the most researched areas compared to areas of Muslim discrimination in education and healthcare. In this subsection though, given the fact that “occupation is the dominant measure of socio-economic position in the UK” and that Muslims are considered “one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Britain” (Khattab, 2009: 306), it could be argued that certain groups of population in the UK with Islamic background “are less likely to be employed than Non-Muslims” (Conor, Koenig, 2015: 191). Likewise, Khattab et al (2013) & (Khattab, 2009) also suggest that minorities with Islamic background tend to face not only fewer chances of employment opportunities but also higher levels of underperformance in the British labour market. More analytically, according to Carmichael and Woods (2010: 71), the penalty in the labour market “manifests itself in terms of higher unemployment, under-representation in professional and intermediate non-manual occupations, and low earnings”. Additionally, Conor and Koenig (2015: 191) who studied the issue of the employment gap among the Muslim people in Western Europe, have found that although in the presently young Muslims have managed to achieve higher educational qualifications compared to the past, the Muslim penalty in the labour market seems that have expanded to the next generations and thus it has become an intergenerational phenomenon: “perceived group discrimination is strongly correlated with unemployment among second-generation Muslims”. Likewise, while trying to explain the disadvantage faced by South-Asians in employment opportunities, Carmichael and Woods (2010: 73) argue that employers usually “have a taste of discrimination” which exposes the most socially disadvantaged minorities to face unequal discrimination during the selection processes. According to a study by London Development Agency (2007), the labour market activity and the rates of employment among the Muslim groups tend to be lower compared to the performance and the rates of other ethnoreligious groups in Britain. Likewise, various studies focusing on specific groups with Islamic identity reveal that these groups seem to face worrying disadvantages in the workplace. For instance, the OSF (2014: 66-80), focusing on the case of Somalis in London, argue that a large number of people from this group experience barriers not only in regards to employment opportunities but also in regards to secure their positions, especially after the economic recession in the UK. However, according to the British Government, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were the minority groups with the highest unemployment levels in the UK between 2004 and 2016 while the recent rate stood at 11% which is more than double the overall unemployment rate (5%) in Britain (Annual Population Survey, 2017). Likewise, according to the 2011 Census Analysis, the Muslim minorities are also the most likely to “work in low skilled jobs” (Potter-Collins, 2014). It is also important to note that women with Islamic background seem to suffer additional forms of discrimination in the British labour market (LDA, Young Foundation, 2007; HC, 2017: 15). However, the subsequent sections of this study will discuss this issue more comprehensively, including a deeper highlight on the case of Muslim women in order to explain the ‘triple penalty’ they face in the UK as explained by (Wadia, 2016).

Ethnic Versus Muslim employment penalty

According to the literature on employment inequalities in the UK, it is still not consensual among scholars whether there is ‘ethnic’ or “religious” affiliation in the labour market penalty (Khattab, Modood, 2015: 1). Many of the researchers have either studied the two factors separately or they treated the Muslim minorities as homogenous groups based only on the dimension of ethnic identity - and colour racism or gender so as to explain the employment inequalities (Rafferty, 2012; Carmichael, Woods, 2010). However, Khattab and Johnston (2013) argue against these assertions by stating that there are dual penalties in the British labour market which reflect colour and cultural racism; furthermore, in their recent multidimensional research, Khattab and Modood (2015: 1) suggest that in regards to underperformance of Muslim South-Asians in the UK labour market, “it is almost impossible to disentangle the effect of ethnicity from the effect of religion”, and it is not clear whether the Pakistani groups suffer further labour market and education penalties “due to discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, religion, or both” . Likewise, Khattab and Modood (2015: 1) opine that the disadvantage in employment is an issue of both colour and culture – namely, being black and Muslim, while not all Muslim and black people face the same level of discrimination because “penalties are not fixed but tend to vary in extent and nature” (Modood, Khattab, 2015: 1). Nevertheless, evidence by Heath and Martin (2010: 1024), prove that religious affiliation exists in employment inequalities as “there is a consistent pattern for Muslim men and women to experience greater labour market penalties than their co-ethnics who belong to other (or no) religion”. Therefore, based on these pieces of evidence, it is possible to argue that the UK labour market penalty tends to be worse for black people with an Islamic background (Khattab, Modood, 2015: 1), and that ethnicity alongside other variables such as gender, age, or marital status are proxies which can also affect the level of disadvantage. (Khattab, 2012: 556; Khattab, 2009). Ultimately, it is important to note that whereas numerous scholars have highlighted the case of South Asians and the Muslim treatment in the UK especially focusing in Bangladeshi and Pakistani as the most disadvantaged group, still there is a dearth of research highlighting the performance of black Africans with Muslim identity in the UK especially the British Somalis. However, as already aforementioned, the Somali community in Britain is also considered as an extremely vulnerable group which tends to face increased levels of discrimination; (Open Society Foundations, 2014 Mohamoud, 2011: 38). All in all, further research needs to be carried out in order to have more considerable arguments regarding the performance of this group.

Penalty faced by Muslim Women in the UK

The previous sections of this study have analysed the sectors of education, health, and the labour market in order to explain the disadvantage which is faced by certain Muslim groups in Britain. Thus, this section aims to focus particularly on the performance and treatment of women with Islamic background, so as evaluate how Muslim women in the UK tend to face additional forms of discrimination and more specifically, a ‘triple penalty’ – due to their religion, ethnicity and gender - (HC, 2017: 15; Wadia, British Parliamentary Commission, 2016; Brown, 2006) thereby exposing them to more vulnerability. In doing so, the section will make and explain its arguments in two major subsections for purposes of comprehensively analysing the issues at hand. More specifically, the first subsection will evaluate the additional forms of discrimination and the disadvantages experienced by Muslim women in Britain, in relation to their gender, ethnicity, and religion while focusing on the labour market penalties. The second subsection will debate on the role of the Islamic dress – veiling – in the British postmodern society as well as how this phenomenon can be linked with the additional penalties and the social status of women with an Islamic background. (Wadia, 2016).

Gender, Ethnicity and Religion: ‘Triple penalty’ against Muslim women in the UK

Even though Muslim women do not constitute a homogenous group in the UK, the available academic literature has analysed and explained the issue of Muslim mistreatment in Britain, emphasising the additional forms of discrimination which they face (LDA, 2010). More specifically, Wadia (2016), studied data from the British parliamentary commission together with other sources of relevant data (i.e.LDA, 2010, HC, 2017) and concluded that women with Islamic background tend to be much more vulnerable and suffer even more discriminatory attitudes and mistreatment “on account of their gender, their ethnicity, and their religion”. This triggers the need for an analysis of why religion and religious identifiers can cause further barriers for Muslim women in the UK. Whereas this study has observed and mentioned that there is a paucity of research on the disadvantages faced by women with Muslim identity in the British healthcare system, there is some evidence showing that they tend to face additional penalties within the British education system too, usually due to societal or parental views concerning the traditional role of women – and this could potentially affect their attainment in higher education (HC, 2017: 28). However, more recent studies have also revealed that girls with an Islamic background tend to have more aspirations and academic achievement than Muslim boys (Khattab, Modood, 2017; LDA and Young Foundations, 2008). Nonetheless, this study has earlier alluded to the fact that the disadvantages faced by Muslim women in employment are an issue of debate, creating a need for further evaluation when studying how the Muslims have been treated in the UK. More analytically, according to the House of Commons (2017: 24), - just as in the case of educational performance - stereotypical views of Muslim women’s role among the employers in the British labour market can also constitute a significant “barrier to employment opportunities”. Likewise, further research findings by the LDA and the Young Foundation (2008) have demonstrated that penalties in employment tend to be more intense for women with Islamic background compared to white Britons or other ethno-religious groups in the UK, while the most recent reports by the House of Commons and the Women and Equalities Committee (2017:15, 48) reveal that groups of Muslim women frequently face “high levels of economic inactivity” preventing them from achieving further career progress. Specifically, Wadia, who analysed the 2015 ONS figures, suggested that only thirty-five per cent of women with the Muslim background, aged sixteen to sixty-four, are employed in the UK, compared to sixty-nine per cent “of all British women in the same age range” (2016). However, according to Mirza (2008: 10), even though Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim women tend to face low expectations in the workplace, they have shown much “higher aspirations and commitment than their white counterparts”. Furthermore, the survey by the LDA (2008: 7) reveal that the high levels of inactivity and underperformance of Muslim women in the labour market is partly by the fact that some of the women choose to look after their kids before they go to school while the other cause is related to multiple forms of discrimination in the workplace. However, some scholars also argue that not all groups of Muslim women in the UK face the same labour market penalties. For example, even though most of the scholars who have evaluated the issue of discrimination faced by women with Islamic background in Britain have focused on the penalties faced by Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, according to the report by the HC (2017), Somali women tend to be the most disadvantaged Muslim minority in the UK, especially in employment: “Somali women have an 87% labour market inactivity level compared to 65% for Pakistani women” ( HC,2017: 16).

Islamophobia and Hate Crime faced by Muslim Women in the UK

It is important to mention though that apart from the fact that there are stereotypical attitudes which can affect their educational and professional progress and their underperformance in the British labour market, women with Islamic identity can also suffer “everyday forms of discrimination” (Hangreaves, 2016). Specifically, they tend to become victims of hate crime experiences and verbal or physical abuse or they feel unsafety on the street with much higher frequency compared to Muslim men or other non-Muslim and non-whites (Soiltani, UNU: 2016; Everett et al, 2014: 91, Hangreaves, 2016). Similarly, according to one of the Guardian’s publications, the Islamophobia crimes with victims Muslim women have shown a dramatic increase in the UK and particularly in the West Yorkshire and Bradford, where several attacks have been reported quite recently (Townsend, 2016). Yet, according to Soiltani (UNU, 2016), most of the attacks have not been reported partly Muslim women tend to feel unsafe. According to Julian Hangreaves (2016), the phenomenon of increased abuse towards women with Islamic identity is partly explained by the fact that they are visibly different: “One probable explanation for the increased risks faced by British Muslim women is, of course, the higher visibility of those who choose to wear a headscarf or face veil” (Hangreaves, 2016). Likewise, Everett et al (2015: 90) agree with Allen’s (2013) that the likelihood for Muslim women to become victims of Islamophobic attacks “is increased if they wear the full-face veil or other clothing associated with Islam”. However, in which way does the visible cultural identity relate to the penalties faced by Muslim women in Britain? The following section discusses this issue further.

Visible Cultural Identity: Understanding the role of veiling

A comprehensive evaluation of how Muslim women are treated in western European countries like the UK requires a deeper analysis of ‘visibility of being Muslim’ and especially the role of Islamic symbols such as the ‘hijab’ (headscarf) - or any other kind of veiling - which constitute the most representative identifiers (Dwyer, 2010) and have significant socio-political meanings (Khiabany, Williamson, 2008: 69) when studied in a European context. As already revealed in the previous sections of this study, the Islamic identity is frequently perceived as ‘Other’ (Modood, 2005: 7) in the western societies while the Islamic dress is considered as one of the most significant identifiers of the Islamic feminine identity (Dwyer, 2010). Moreover, this study has made an argument that Muslim women tend to face more forms of discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, gender and – predominantly – religion (Wadia, 2016). Hence, in this subsection reference will be made to certain examples in order to examine the argument that the religious dress “poses the most barriers” (Wadia, 2016) for women with Islamic background and thus it can affect their opportunities in the UK (HC, 2015: 20). More analytically, according to the report by the House of Commons (2015: 20-21), the religious dress not only influence the people’s views but can also activate the already established stereotypical societal attitudes, a phenomenon which potentially results in increased employer discrimination and therefore limiting the workplace chances. For instance, the LDA and the Young Foundation (2008) found several cases of women with Islamic background who admitted that wearing hijab could be one of the reasons why they had missed out on further career progression. Likewise, the same survey has revealed that “Fifty-nine per cent of the women who are not in work wear the hijab” (The LDA and the Young Foundation 2008:6), Likewise, according to a number of respondents in the survey, it was almost impossible to find employment in the UK while wearing Hijab (The LDA and the Young Foundation 2008:6). Furthermore, another notable example of discrimination towards visually different Muslim women revealed by the HC (2015: 20-21) - is the recruitment process, where it is a frequent phenomenon for the employers to ask questions about issues like the marital status or childcare, with much more frequency, compared to white British women.

Aims and Meanings of the Veiling

According to Brown (2006) and Soiltani (UNU, 2016) though, it is not an unusual phenomenon for Muslim women to be treated as homogenized (i.e. similar to the populations with Islamic background in the UK). However, scholars have argued that the Muslim women’s identities as well as the meanings of the veiling practice can vary in relation to multiple factors for example, their political aspirations (Afshar et al, 2005), historical, cultural and family backgrounds, as well as the social and political environment which they lived in and shape them (Soiltani, UNU, 2016). Furthermore, according to Afshar et al (2005; 262), women who wear the veiling in the post-terrorism period in a western country, represent a political ideology as they “publicly branding themselves as Muslims at a time when such a label carries the potential fear of making them vulnerable to open hostility”. Likewise, Ruby’s (2006:54) qualitative research on “the dominant understandings of the hijab” as a threat to the western democratic values in Canada, found that a considerable number of women have self-expressed that the wearing of the headscarf has a positive role in their lives due to the fact that it shows modesty, as well as it “confirms their Muslim identities” (p. 54).