MANCHESTER – Manchester police are investigating a November attack that left a Muslim mother reeling after a woman spat in the face of her young child in Manchester.
“We were involved in this case and the anger, racism and anti-Muslim comments, show the intersectionality of hatred that takes place in such cases,” said Iman Atta, CEO of Tell MAMA, a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the UK, Yahoo UK reported.
The case occurred November 10 when the Muslim woman was out at the Trafford Centre in Manchester with her five children.
A woman, described as white and middle-aged, attacked the family with a series of racial slurs.
The perpetrator reportedly shouted, ‘black scumbag,’ ‘people like you shouldn’t be here,’ and ‘look at you with that thing on,’ a reference to her headscarf.
When the Muslim woman left the place to another shop, the attacker followed them, shouting more abuse and spitting in the face of the young child.
The mother then screamed for help given the populated location of the incident and even approached a security guard at a nearby shop but the response, was, in the words of the woman, “slow or non-existent,” Tell MAMA said.
“Victims are left feeling alone, emotionally traumatized and in this case, the children were in sight and sound of what happened, which has further implications around their sense of security,” Atta said.
“It is shocking that someone thinks they can do that to another person today and sadly, these issues show how we need to redouble our efforts around countering hatred and prejudice,” she added.
Tell MAMA said they are, “liaising with Greater Manchester Police on her behalf and will raise a complaint with the Trafford Centre.”