🔗 Share this article

Sikh females across the Midlands are describing how a series of assaults driven by religious bias has instilled widespread fear within their community, forcing many to “radically modify” about their daily routines.

Series of Attacks Causes Fear

Two violent attacks of Sikh women, both young adults, occurring in Walsall and Oldbury, have come to light over the past few weeks. A man in his early thirties has been charged associated with a religiously aggravated rape in relation to the purported assault in Walsall.

Such occurrences, along with a physical aggression targeting two older Sikh cab drivers located in Wolverhampton, resulted in a meeting in parliament towards October's close about anti-Sikh hate crimes across the Midlands.

Ladies Modifying Habits

A leader working with a women’s aid group across the West Midlands stated that women were altering their everyday schedules to ensure their security.

“The fear, the now complete changing of your day-to-day living, that is real. I have not seen that before,” she remarked. “This is the first time since I’ve set up Sikh Women’s Aid where women have said to us: ‘We are no longer doing the things that we enjoy because we might get harmed doing them.’”

Ladies were “apprehensive” attending workout facilities, or taking strolls or jogs now, she mentioned. “They are doing this in groups. They are sharing their location with their friends or a family member.

“An assault in Walsall will frighten females in Coventry since it’s within the Midlands,” she said. “Undoubtedly, there’s been a change in how females perceive their personal security.”

Collective Actions and Safety Measures

Sikh gurdwaras throughout the Midlands have begun distributing personal safety devices to females in an effort to keep them safe.

In a Walsall temple, a devoted member mentioned that the attacks had “changed everything” for the Sikh community there.

Specifically, she revealed she did not feel safe going to the gurdwara on her own, and she advised her older mother to be careful while answering the door. “All of us are at risk,” she declared. “Assaults can occur anytime, day or night.”

Another member stated she was implementing additional safety measures while commuting to her job. “I attempt to park closer to the transit hub,” she said. “I put paath [prayer] in my headphones but it’s on a very low volume, to the point where I can still hear cars go past, I can still hear surroundings around me.”

Historical Dread Returns

A mother of three remarked: “My daughters and I take walks, but current crime levels make it feel highly dangerous.

“We never previously considered such safety measures,” she said. “I’m perpetually checking my surroundings.”

For a long-time resident, the mood echoes the racism older generations faced in the 1970s and 80s.

“This mirrors the 1980s, when our mothers walked near the local hall,” she reflected. “We used to have the National Front and all the people sat there and they used to spit at them, call them names or set dogs on them. For some reason, I’m going back to that. In my head, I think those times are almost back.”

A public official agreed with this, saying people felt “we’ve regressed to an era … marked by overt racism”.

“People are scared to go out in the community,” she emphasized. “Many hesitate to display religious symbols like turbans or scarves.”

Authority Actions and Comforting Words

The local council had set up more monitoring systems near temples to ease public concerns.

Authorities announced they were conducting discussions with community leaders, ladies’ associations, and local representatives, as well as visiting faith establishments, to discuss women’s safety.

“The past week has been tough for the public,” a high-ranking official addressed a gurdwara committee. “No one should reside in a neighborhood filled with fear.”

Municipal leadership affirmed it had been “actively working alongside the police with the Sikh community and our communities more widely to provide support and reassurance”.

Another council leader stated: “The terrible occurrence in Oldbury left us all appalled.” She noted that officials cooperate with law enforcement through a security alliance to combat aggression towards females and bias-driven offenses.