Hate crimes targeting Muslims have significantly increased last year according to a new report released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday.
The report said that 3,360 hate crimes were reported by police last year, an increase from 2,646 in 2020.
“This year, there was a dramatic spike of anti-Muslim hate, as per the Stats Canada numbers. We lost Canadian Muslims to hate in 2021,” the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) wrote on Twitter.
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“These numbers also do not tell the whole story – we know that the numbers of hate crimes vastly exceed what show up in hate crime stats.”
We have a lot of work to do to end all forms of hatred in this country.
— NCCM (@nccm) August 3, 2022
According to the agency, the number of hate-motivated crimes recorded by the police has gone up 72 per cent since 2019.
The first year of the pandemic saw the highest number of police-reported hate crimes since Statistics Canada began tracking data in 2009.
Action Needed
Responding to the report, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) called for greater federal help for victims of hate, urging government to create a national fund for organizations that support victims of hate crimes.
“Every year we hear about the increase in hate and every year, we hear the condemnations. But that’s not enough. We can and must do more to help victims and communities deal with the painful aftermath,” Mohammed Hashim, CRRF’s Executive Director, said in an online statement.
“We can and must do more to help victims and communities deal with the painful aftermath.”
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Islamophobic attacks across Canada have risen at alarming levels. The attacks have not only increased in frequency, many are directed towards visibly Muslim women and girls.
Street racism is often inspired by online hate speech and extremism, which have surged in Canada.
Last year, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) released a set of 61 policy recommendations for all levels of government to take action against Islamophobia, including measures for Canada’s education system.
The non-profit advocacy group developed the recommendations after holding consultation sessions with mosques, community groups and organizations representing Canadian Muslims across the country.
A report published by CAIR titled “Targeted: 2018 Civil Rights Report” recorded 144 anti-mosque incidents in 2017, of which 57 were labeled hate crimes.
In Australia, women wearing a hijab or other Islamic head coverings are overwhelmingly bearing the brunt of public Islam hate attacks, making up almost 80 percent of victims.