MUSLIM HELPLINE

A first UK helpline for victims of Islamophobia is being set up amid concerns that incidents are not being reported or properly categorised. Last year 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Police say it is unclear how many were against Muslims as separate figures were not recorded. Faith Matters, a non-profit group, hopes to show the scale of the problem and provide support for victims. "Many people think that Islamophobic crime does not exist. They say: 'Where is the data?'" said the director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal. He is setting up the project Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks (MAMA) with the help of government funding. "This is a chance for the Muslim community to say: 'Let us present the case, in terms of the facts, let somebody collate it and present it to the authorities.'"If someone has suffered abuse, been attacked or received a leaflet with inflammatory comments about Muslims in it, I want to hear about it."

Hate crime

The police are required by the Home Office to record all hate crime - this includes crime on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender, disability and faith. Anti-Islamic crime is currently grouped together with faith hate crimes against Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. Anti-Semitic incidents are recorded separately and Faith Matters wants Islamophobic incidents to also be in their own category. According to their research, only 14 police forces out of 44 collate information about Islamophobic crime. Anti-Semitic hate crimes have been recorded separately since 2006 in response to a request from the government following an inquiry into anti-Semitism, said a spokesperson for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo.)  "A significant challenge in identifying other hate crimes for other religious groups is that many victims consider the crimes to be racist. Given that Muslims originate from all ethnicities it would not be possible to identify such victims from within racist crime data. "While we do not publish national data on anti-Muslim hate crimes, it is important to stress that all police forces maintain their local hate crime data."

HOW TO REPORT ISLAMOPHOBIC ATTACKS

Anyone who has been a victim of an Islamophobic incident can report it to the free helpline by calling 0800 456 1226

Or contact tellmamauk.org at the website or via Twitter, Facebook or text

Fear of Islam and Muslims is on the increase, according to Dr Leon Moosavi, an academic based at Lancaster University who has studied Islamophobia. "It is a widespread problem in the UK," he said. "More education is needed in schools, and Muslims need to also educate people about their faith."

Media reports of anti-Muslim incidents are monitored by Islamophobia Watch, Engage and the Islamic Human Rights Commission, but none are able to offer a personal service to victims.