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Sikh women throughout the Midlands region are recounting a wave of hate crimes based on faith has instilled deep-seated anxiety among their people, compelling some to “radically modify” about their daily routines.

String of Events Triggers Concern

Two rapes of Sikh women, both young adults, occurring in Walsall and Oldbury, were recently disclosed in recent weeks. A 32-year-old man has been charged in connection with a religiously aggravated rape in relation to the alleged Walsall attack.

Such occurrences, along with a brutal assault on two elderly Sikh taxi drivers located in Wolverhampton, led to a session in the House of Commons in late October regarding hate offenses against Sikhs within the area.

Women Altering Daily Lives

A leader working with a women’s aid group in the West Midlands commented that women were changing their regular habits to protect themselves.

“The dread, the absolute transformation of everyday existence, is palpable. This is unprecedented in my experience,” 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.’”

Women were “not comfortable” visiting fitness centers, or going for walks or runs at present, she mentioned. “They participate in these endeavors together. They update loved ones on their location.”

“An attack in Walsall is going to make women in Coventry feel scared because it’s the Midlands,” she explained. “There has definitely been a shift in the way women think about their own safety.”

Community Responses and Precautions

Sikh places of worship throughout the Midlands are now handing out protective alarms to females to help ensure their security.

Within a Walsall place of worship, a regular attender stated that the attacks had “altered everything” for local Sikh residents.

Notably, she revealed she did not feel safe going to the gurdwara on her own, and she cautioned her older mother to stay vigilant when opening her front door. “All of us are at risk,” she said. “No one is safe from harm, regardless of the hour.”

Another member explained she was taking extra precautions when going to work. “I try and find parking nearer to the bus station,” she noted. “I listen to paath [prayer] through headphones but keep it quiet enough to detect passing vehicles and ambient noise.”

Echoes of Past Anxieties

A woman raising three girls 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 continued. “I’m always watching my back.”

For a long-time resident, the atmosphere is reminiscent of the racism older generations faced during the seventies and eighties.

“We’ve experienced all this in the 1980s when our mums used to go past where the community hall is,” she recalled. “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 local councillor echoed this, saying people felt “we’ve gone back in time … where there was a lot of open racism”.

“Residents fear venturing into public spaces,” she emphasized. “There’s apprehension about wearing faith-based items such as headwear.”

Authority Actions and Comforting Words

The local council had set up additional surveillance cameras in the vicinity of places of worship to ease public concerns.

Law enforcement officials confirmed they were conducting discussions with public figures, ladies’ associations, and local representatives, and going to worship centers, to discuss women’s safety.

“The past week has been tough for the public,” a senior officer informed a worship center group. “No one should reside in a neighborhood filled with fear.”

Local government stated it was “collaborating closely with law enforcement and the Sikh population, as well as broader groups, to offer aid and comfort”.

One more local authority figure commented: “We were all shocked by the awful incident in Oldbury.” She added that the council worked with the police as part of a safety partnership to tackle violence against women and girls and hate crime.