Islamophobic attacks double in Australia, with girls and women the main victims
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Islamophobic incidents in Australia have more than doubled over the past two years, with girls and women bearing the brunt of the hostility, as new research highlights a surge in physical and verbal attacks.
The latest Islamophobia in Australia report, compiled by the Islamophobia Register in collaboration with Deakin and Monash universities, documents a 2.5-fold increase in in-person attacks between January 2023 and December 2024, while verified online incidents have more than tripled.
Women and girls accounted for three-quarters of the reported cases and were significantly more likely to face physical assaults than their male counterparts. Several attacks took place in the presence of children, with some witnessing their mothers being physically harmed.
The report details cases of women being punched, choked, or subjected to verbal abuse, leading to trauma and fear of public spaces. In one instance, a woman was attacked in a shopping centre while sitting with her children, resulting in hospitalisation. In another case, a man threatened a Muslim woman with physical and sexual violence while she was walking in public.
The findings indicate that nearly half of the in-person incidents occurred in New South Wales, which has the country’s largest Muslim population. The attacks took place in a variety of settings, with streets and parking areas accounting for over a quarter of the cases, followed by workplaces, shopping centres, schools, universities, and public transport.
Women were over three times more likely to face Islamophobic incidents at their workplaces than men, despite being underrepresented in the workforce. Schools were the only environment where attacks on Muslim boys outnumbered those on girls, with boys making up 63% of the reported cases in educational settings.
A sharp increase in Islamophobic incidents was observed in the three weeks following the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza, with reports to the register rising by 1,300% compared to the same period the previous year. Many of the victims were not Muslim but were targeted based on perceived religious identity.
The report also highlights the lasting impact of Islamophobia, with victims experiencing trauma, anxiety, and reluctance to appear in public, while some women have left their jobs due to fear of harassment.