🔗 Share this article

Sikh females across the Midlands are describing a wave of hate crimes based on faith has caused deep-seated anxiety within their community, compelling some to “change everything” about their daily routines.

Series of Attacks Causes Fear

Two sexual assaults of Sikh women, both in their 20s, in Walsall and Oldbury, have been reported during the last several weeks. An individual aged 32 has been charged in connection with a religiously aggravated rape connected with the purported assault in Walsall.

Those incidents, combined with a violent attack targeting two older Sikh cab drivers in Wolverhampton, led to a session in the House of Commons in late October about anti-Sikh hate crimes in the region.

Ladies Modifying Habits

An advocate working with a women’s aid group based in the West Midlands commented that ladies were modifying their everyday schedules for their own safety.

“The terror, the total overhaul of daily life, is genuine. I’ve never witnessed this previously,” she said. “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” going to the gym, or walking or running currently, she said. “They are doing this in groups. They are sharing their location with their friends or a family member.

“A violent incident in Walsall causes anxiety for ladies in Coventry as it’s part of the same region,” she emphasized. “Clearly, there’s a transformation in the manner ladies approach their own protection.”

Community Responses and Precautions

Sikh gurdwaras throughout the Midlands are now handing out rape and security alarms to ladies in an effort to keep them safe.

Within a Walsall place of worship, a frequent visitor stated that the events had “altered everything” for local Sikh residents.

Notably, she revealed she did not feel safe going to the gurdwara on her own, and she advised her elderly mother to exercise caution when opening her front door. “We’re all targets,” she affirmed. “Assaults can occur anytime, day or night.”

Another member mentioned she was adopting further protective steps during her travels to work. “I try and find parking nearer to the bus station,” she noted. “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.”

Generational Fears Resurface

A parent with three daughters expressed: “We go for walks, the girls and I, and it just feels very unsafe at the moment with all these crimes.

“We’ve never thought about taking these precautions before,” she said. “I’m perpetually checking my surroundings.”

For someone who grew up locally, the atmosphere recalls the discrimination endured by elders in the 1970s and 80s.

“This mirrors the 1980s, when our mothers walked near the local hall,” she reflected. “The National Front members would sit there, spitting, hurling insults, or unleashing dogs. Somehow, I’m reliving that era. Mentally, I feel those days have returned.”

A public official echoed this, stating residents believed “we’ve gone back in time … where there was a lot of open racism”.

“Individuals are afraid to leave their homes,” she said. “People are scared to wear the artefacts of their religion; turbans or head coverings.”

Authority Actions and Comforting Words

City officials had provided extra CCTV around gurdwaras to reassure the community.

Authorities announced they were organizing talks with local politicians, women’s groups, and community leaders, and going to worship centers, to address female security.

“This has been a challenging period for residents,” a high-ranking official told a temple board. “No one should reside in a neighborhood filled with fear.”

The council stated it had been “actively working alongside the police with the Sikh community and our communities more widely to provide support and reassurance”.

One more local authority figure commented: “We were all shocked by the awful incident in Oldbury.” She explained that the municipality collaborates with authorities via a protective coalition to address attacks on women and prejudice-motivated crimes.