Attacks on British Muslims have gone up 300% since Paris

A report to the Government's working group on anti-Muslim hatred, seen by the i paper, shows a spike in Islamophobic hate crime of more than 300 per cent since the killings in France on November 13 until Saturday.

Most of the abuse victims were Muslim girls and women aged 14 to 45 wearing traditional Islamic dress. The perpetrators were mainly white males aged 15 to 35.

The figures were compiled by the Tell Mama helpline, which records verbal and physical attacks on Muslims and mosques in the UK. They are likely to be a significant underestimate of the total as many people are too frightened to report incidents.

Tell Mama said many of the attacks were in public places such as on buses and trains, and 34 of the victims were women who wore the hijab, while eight involved young children.

The cases show women who wear the hijab are the ones being targeted for general abuse and threats. Many victims suggested that no one came to their assistance or even consoled them, meaning that they felt victimised, embarrassed, alone and angry about what had taken place against them. Sixteen even mentioned that they would be fearful of going out in the future and that the experiences had affected their confidence.

Out of these cases on public transport, eight involved young children who heard the comments against their mothers, and the mothers said their children had seen them being fearful as perpetrators took aggressive physical postures against them.

• Tell Mama

Read the Independent's full report on the rise in attacks here

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