Study shows strict home life stifling Muslim youth
AUTHORS SAY LOCKDOWN COULD AFFECT COMMUNITY’S MENTAL HEALTH
MANY young British Muslims feel “suffocated” by their strict home life compared to their white and non-Muslim peers, a new report found, as its authors cautioned that the coronavirus pandemic could worsen the community’s mental wellbeing.
A study by the British Muslims for Secular Democracy (BMSD) showed that some individuals feel they are leading “double lives” and feel pressured by family members. With a fresh lockdown announced on Monday (4) and people being instructed to stay indoors with their families, it is feared this could lead to increased stress as some individuals may feel they have to hide details of their life, such as their sexuality or relationships.
Haris Effendi, 31, is a practising Muslim from Bradford. He is not surprised by the report’s findings, warning some young people may even turn to crime if they feel pressured by family. “You see some of these guys on the street, they’re very confident, dabbling in crime and getting into fights, and then you see them at home with the parents and they’re so quiet,” he told Eastern Eye. “It is like they feel so trapped at home that they express themselves too much outside.”
Effendi is of mixed British-Pakistani heritage – his mother is white British and his father is from Pakistan. He said he lived a different life to some of his Muslim friends, as his mother was “very open and relaxed”. His father, on the other hand, is less open about his feelings.
“My father has never told me he’s proud of me or that he loves me. Those kinds of things don’t come naturally to someone like my dad, which I think it is the case with a lot of strict Muslim parents,” Effendi said. “I used to always go to my mother to talk about things, but if I was in a household with both my parents being like my dad, then I would have not spoken up about anything. I do sympathise with all the people I know who have parents who are not very open. It is a big issue within the Muslim culture.”
The analysis also noted previous studies, which has shown rates of self-harm and suicidal acts are disproportionately high among south Asian young women. They cite familial pressures to maintain traditional gender-specific roles with family pressure, abuse and cultural conflict as key contributors.
Sobia* is a single woman in her thirties. She said she was under “constant scrutiny” from her family and frequently questioned about plans to find a husband. “I work with young Asian women and many had never even left their home cities before,” she said. “They are almost suffocated by their families.”
The report also focused on the level of racism which many young Muslims face, which can have a direct impact on their mental health. One case study said racism had heightened since the Brexit vote, while others admitted they had experienced abuse from an early age.
Sami* said he was bullied at school by white pupils. He was only one of two Asian students. “There was a lot of bullying,” he said. “I would get called names like ‘P*ki’ and ‘curry stinker’.”
Professor Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a journalist and chair of BMSD, co-wrote the report with five others. She said the researchers chose to investigate the lives of young Muslims as “they have particular, unspoken pressures to deal with, often alone and in silence.”
“The Manchester bomber (Salman Abedi, who murdered 22 people at the Manchester Arena in 2017) and ‘Isis (Daesh) brides’ could perhaps have been stopped if they had had help with mental and emotional distress,” Alibhai-Brown told Eastern Eye.
“More young Muslims are finding happiness and success, but many are not.”
The analysis also looked at the impact of counter-terrorism strategies. It said young people are afraid to access services for help and support because of Prevent, part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, in case they say something wrong.
According to co-author Shereen Irum Ali, many Muslims in the UK have faced “intensified psychological distress” since the 9/11 terror attacks. The impact of a government focus on radicalisation and counter-terrorism surveillance is the ‘pervasive scrutiny’ young Muslims face, she said. The ‘othering’ of Muslims by the media can also lead to widespread ignorance, she said.
BMSD director and fellow co-author, Tehmina Kazi, agreed media coverage of radicalised individuals as “very shallow”.
“(Coverage) does not take the time to delve into their personal histories,” Kazi told Eastern Eye. “It is important to disseminate this knowledge (as far as is practicable), if we want to address the root causes of radicalisation and to increase public understanding of this phenomenon.”