Policy Press
Three The lived experiences of veiled Muslim women as ‘undeserving’ victims of Islamophobia
Abstract
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, and more recently the ISIS-directed attacks in Paris and Brussels the religion of Islam is associated with terrorism and the global ‘war on terror’. Muslim women who wear the veil in public are stigmatised as ‘other’ and demonised as ‘dangerous’. The wearing of the veil is understood as a practice synonymous with religious fundamentalism and Islamist extremism. Correspondingly, media discourses and political rhetoric about Islamist extremism are often illustrated by the image of a Muslim woman in veil. The veil is understood as a ‘threat’ to notions of integration and national cohesion, and a visual embodiment of gender oppression and gender inequality. Consequently, veiled Muslim women are vulnerable to hate crime attacks in public. Drawing on Christie’s (1986) concept of the ‘ideal victim’, this chapter considers the implications of the label of ‘undeserving victims’ for veiled Muslim women who have experienced anti-Muslim hate crime. It argues that they are often denied the ‘ideal victim’ identity due to the demonisation and criminalisation of the veil, especially in light of the banning of the veil in European countries such as France and Belgium.
Abstract
Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, and more recently the ISIS-directed attacks in Paris and Brussels the religion of Islam is associated with terrorism and the global ‘war on terror’. Muslim women who wear the veil in public are stigmatised as ‘other’ and demonised as ‘dangerous’. The wearing of the veil is understood as a practice synonymous with religious fundamentalism and Islamist extremism. Correspondingly, media discourses and political rhetoric about Islamist extremism are often illustrated by the image of a Muslim woman in veil. The veil is understood as a ‘threat’ to notions of integration and national cohesion, and a visual embodiment of gender oppression and gender inequality. Consequently, veiled Muslim women are vulnerable to hate crime attacks in public. Drawing on Christie’s (1986) concept of the ‘ideal victim’, this chapter considers the implications of the label of ‘undeserving victims’ for veiled Muslim women who have experienced anti-Muslim hate crime. It argues that they are often denied the ‘ideal victim’ identity due to the demonisation and criminalisation of the veil, especially in light of the banning of the veil in European countries such as France and Belgium.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of abbreviations v
- Notes on contributors vi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Foreword: thinking beyond the ideal xiii
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The Ideal Victim 11
-
Exploring the ‘Ideal Victim’
- The ideal victim through other(s’) eyes 27
- Creating ideal victims in hate crime policy 43
- The lived experiences of veiled Muslim women as ‘undeserving’ victims of Islamophobia 63
- Being ‘ideal’ or falling short? The legitimacy of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender victims of domestic violence and hate crime 83
- New victimisations: female sex worker hate crime and the ‘ideal victim’ 103
- The ‘ideal migrant victim’ in human rights courts: between vulnerability and otherness 123
- ‘Our most precious possession of all’: the survivor of non-recent childhood sexual abuse as the ideal victim? 141
- ‘Idealising’ domestic violence victims 159
- Environmental crime, victimisation, and the ideal victim 175
-
Exploring the ‘Non-Ideal’ Victim
- Revisiting the non-ideal victim 195
- Conceptualising victims of antisocial behaviour is far from ‘ideal’ 211
- The ‘ideal’ rape victim and the elderly woman: a contradiction in terms? 229
- Denying victim status to online fraud victims: the challenges of being a ‘non-ideal victim’ 243
- Male prisoners’ vulnerabilities and the ideal victim concept 263
- A decade after Lynndie: non-ideal victims of non-ideal offenders – doubly anomalised, doubly invisibilised 279
- Towards an inclusive victimology and a new understanding of public compassion to victims: from and beyond Christie’s ideal victim 297
- Conclusion 313
- Index 315
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of abbreviations v
- Notes on contributors vi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Foreword: thinking beyond the ideal xiii
- Preface xvii
- Introduction 1
- The Ideal Victim 11
-
Exploring the ‘Ideal Victim’
- The ideal victim through other(s’) eyes 27
- Creating ideal victims in hate crime policy 43
- The lived experiences of veiled Muslim women as ‘undeserving’ victims of Islamophobia 63
- Being ‘ideal’ or falling short? The legitimacy of lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender victims of domestic violence and hate crime 83
- New victimisations: female sex worker hate crime and the ‘ideal victim’ 103
- The ‘ideal migrant victim’ in human rights courts: between vulnerability and otherness 123
- ‘Our most precious possession of all’: the survivor of non-recent childhood sexual abuse as the ideal victim? 141
- ‘Idealising’ domestic violence victims 159
- Environmental crime, victimisation, and the ideal victim 175
-
Exploring the ‘Non-Ideal’ Victim
- Revisiting the non-ideal victim 195
- Conceptualising victims of antisocial behaviour is far from ‘ideal’ 211
- The ‘ideal’ rape victim and the elderly woman: a contradiction in terms? 229
- Denying victim status to online fraud victims: the challenges of being a ‘non-ideal victim’ 243
- Male prisoners’ vulnerabilities and the ideal victim concept 263
- A decade after Lynndie: non-ideal victims of non-ideal offenders – doubly anomalised, doubly invisibilised 279
- Towards an inclusive victimology and a new understanding of public compassion to victims: from and beyond Christie’s ideal victim 297
- Conclusion 313
- Index 315
