🔗 Share this article

Sikh women in the Midlands area are describing a wave of assaults driven by religious bias has caused pervasive terror among their people, pushing certain individuals to “radically modify” about their daily routines.

String of Events Triggers Concern

Two sexual assaults targeting Sikh females, each in their twenties, occurring in Walsall and Oldbury, have come to light in recent weeks. A man in his early thirties has been charged related to a faith-based sexual assault linked to the purported assault in Walsall.

These events, combined with a brutal assault against two senior Sikh chauffeurs in Wolverhampton, led to a parliamentary gathering towards October's close concerning bias-motivated crimes targeting Sikhs within the area.

Ladies Modifying Habits

A leader from a domestic abuse charity across the West Midlands stated that women were modifying their daily routines to ensure their security.

“The fear, the now complete changing of your day-to-day living, that is real. I have not seen that before,” she remarked. “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” visiting fitness centers, or going for walks or runs currently, she said. “They are doing this in groups. They are sharing their location with their friends or a family member.

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

Community Responses and Precautions

Sikh places of worship across the Midlands have begun distributing rape and security alarms to females as a measure for their protection.

In a Walsall temple, a frequent visitor remarked that the incidents had “transformed everything” for the Sikh community there.

Notably, she expressed she felt unsafe attending worship by herself, and she cautioned her senior parent 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.”

One more individual mentioned she was taking extra precautions during her travels to work. “I attempt to park closer to the transit hub,” she said. “I listen to paath [prayer] through headphones but keep it quiet enough to detect passing vehicles and ambient noise.”

Generational Fears Resurface

A woman raising three girls remarked: “My daughters and I take walks, but current crime levels make it feel highly dangerous.

“We never previously considered such safety measures,” she said. “I’m always watching my back.”

For a long-time resident, the atmosphere echoes the bigotry experienced by prior generations back in the 70s and 80s.

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

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

Official Responses and Reassurances

City officials had installed extra CCTV in the vicinity of places of worship to comfort residents.

Law enforcement officials announced they were holding meetings with local politicians, women’s groups, and community leaders, as well as visiting faith establishments, to talk about ladies’ protection.

“The past week has been tough for the public,” a chief superintendent addressed a gurdwara committee. “No one should reside in a neighborhood filled with fear.”

Municipal leadership declared it had been “actively working alongside the police with the Sikh community and our communities more widely to provide support and reassurance”.

A different municipal head commented: “Everyone was stunned by the horrific event 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.