A Muslim woman who has been abused and spat at in the street says anti-Muslim hatred in the media is to blame.
Khola Hasan, an Islamic scholar, says the portrayal of Muslims is causing a rise in Islamophobia and making people feel like second-class citizens.
Ms Hasan works for the Islamic Sharia Council in Leyton and lives in Theydon Garnon, Epping Forest.
Prejudice and fear towards Muslims has increased in Epping Forest in recent years, she says, in line with increasing Islamophobia nationwide.
“I have seen it everywhere I have been,” she said.
In England and Wales, religiously motivated hate crime rose by 43 per cent from 2013-14 to 2014-15, a government report showed in October last year.
In Epping Forest, Ms Hasan says she has been targeted many times in recent years, and she now avoids going to areas such as Epping High Street. [The Guardian] Read more
