Campaign urges us all to combat hate in our city

MUSLIM WOMAN TALKS ON VIDEO ABOUT TIME SHE WAS RACIALLY ABUSED IN STREET

A MUSLIM woman who was racially abused in Nottingham has backed a campaign urging passers-by to stand up to hate crime.

Zaynab Asghar, was standing outside her local pharmacy in Sneinton when she was told to “go home” by a man.

She has spoken out about her ordeal ahead of National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

A campaign urging bystanders to intervene if they see someone being abused is being held as part of the awareness week, which starts today.

The 39-year-old features in a video as part of the project, which is run by social enterprise company Communities Inc and supported by Nottingham City Council.

In the video, she said: “I was waiting for a prescription and an old man started shouting at me and told me to go home, and he told me I wasn’t welcome in the country because of the way I dressed.

“It made me feel a little bit intimidated and scared to start off with, but then I started to feel angry and a bit upset because I hadn’t done anything wrong and I was just being targeted because of the way I was dressed. “I think it would have been nice if somebody spoke to him. He may decide to think twice before doing that to another person.” Shamsher Chohan, creative director of Communities Inc, said: “Through the videos we wanted to make people aware that even small hate incidents have a huge impact on victims. We also wanted them to know that there are safe and simple things you can do that disrupt and counter the incident and also support the victim.” Councillor Toby Neal said: “Nottingham is a great place to live with vibrant, diverse communities. We are proud of this diversity and of the spirit of our communities and citizens. We believe that we have more in common than that divides us and that our differences are to be celebrated. We want to send out a strong message that there is No Place For Hate in Nottingham and we invite everyone to join us.” A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “We would never encourage people to put themselves in danger and, if they are concerned about something, to report it to us on 101.”

We want to send out a strong message that there is No Place For Hate in Nottingham.

Councillor Toby Neal