What to Do If You See Islamophobic Harassment | Sojourners

What to Do If You See Islamophobic Harassment

image via tumblr / MAERIL

A young artist by the name of Maeril created a fantastic comic for anyone witnessing Islamophobic harassment in public. It was published on her Tumblr and later on Facebook through her work with The Middle Eastern Feminist. Here's the list (slightly abbreviated: full comic by MAERIL here):

Maeril says she created it in part because of the increased harassment Muslims are facing:

...Some could say: “Yes but you can use that technique for instances of harassment other than Islamophobic attacks!”, and my reply is: Sure! Please do so, it also works for other “types” of harassment of a lone person in a public space!! 

However I’m focusing on protecting Muslims here, as they have been very specific targets lately, and as a French Middle Eastern woman, I wanted to try and do something to raise awareness on how to help when such things happen before our eyes - that way one cannot say they “didn’t know what to do”! 

I’d like to insist on two things: 
1) Do not, in any way, interact with the attacker. You must absolutely ignore them and focus entirely on the person being attacked! 
2) Please make sure to always respect the wishes of the person you’re helping: whether they want you to leave quickly afterwards, or not! If you’re in a hurry escort them to a place where someone else can take over - call one of their friends, or one of yours, of if they want to, the police. It all depends on how they feel! 

Check out her Tumblr for the full comic and description, and for more information on her work.