Hate Crimes Against Muslim Women

Baroness Gohir Excerpts

Monday 20th May 2024 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Gohir]

To ask His Majesty’s Government how they plan to reduce hate crimes against Muslim women and to what extent their plans involve engaging with diverse Muslim women’s groups across the country.

[Baroness Gohir (CB)]

My Lords, in begging leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, I draw attention to my interests as set out in the register, particularly as the CEO of Muslim Women’s Network UK.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (Baroness Swinburne) (Con)]

My Lords, anti-Muslim hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society. From ensuring the safety of worshippers and working with the police to supporting victims, we will continue to take swift action to address anti-Muslim hatred, and this includes safeguarding Muslim women. We are committed to tackling anti-Muslim hatred through a co-ordinated cross-departmental effort. To this end, we will provide £117.6 million to protect mosques and Muslim faith schools across the country until 2028.

[Baroness Gohir (CB)]

I thank the Minister for meeting me last week, when I shared concerns about Tell MAMA, in that Muslim communities do not have trust and confidence in Tell MAMA. I have written a letter to the Government with 31 questions about Tell MAMA, and the Government have not answered them. When will the Government answer my questions in full, and when will Tell MAMA’s data be made available in full? When will Tell MAMA’s poor governance and the quality of its work be assessed? When will its funding be reviewed? It gets around £1 million a year, and no one knows what it does with this money. Why the lack of transparency when it comes to Tell MAMA?

[Baroness Swinburne (Con)]

We have funded Tell MAMA since 2012 to monitor and support victims of anti-Muslim hatred. Tell MAMA is subject to internal grant funding review processes and due diligence checks. This is the case for all funded partners’ processes before any funding agreement can be processed annually. Therefore, Tell MAMA engages regularly with DLUHC officials monitoring its progress. Relationships with all government-funded partners are kept under constant review, and we will ensure that concerns around any governance or accounting matters are considered. Given that many of the noble Baroness’s 31 questions raise such concerns, it would not be appropriate for me to comment specifically at this time, but I will revert to her privately.