'Tip of the iceberg': Islamophobic attacks in Australia soared after sickening Christchurch mosque massacre, report shows
'Tip of the iceberg': Islamophobic attacks in Australia soared after sickening Christchurch mosque massacre, report shows
Reports of Islamophobia increased by at least four times in the two weeks following the Christchurch massacre in New Zealand, according to a new report released by the Australian Islamophobia register.
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Reports of Islamophobic incidents in Australiaincreased following the Christchurch mosque massacre in New Zealand in 2019 [Getty]
Islamophobic attacks surgedin Australia inthe wake of the 2019in New Zealand, according to released on Tuesday.
Reporting of in-personincreased at least fourfold, while reports of online hate increased by 18 times in the two weeks following the far-right terrorist attack by Brenton Tarrant which killed51 Muslims, the Australian IslamophobiaRegistersaid.
The group's report was released on the third anniversary of the massacre, in which the self-proclaimedwhite supremacistmurdered worshippers - including children and the elderly - attwo mosques in Christchurch.
"Islamophobia is not a 'Muslim' problem but a social cohesion risk. It requires national engagement if Australia is to live up to its multicultural legacy," the register said, urging public authorities and media platforms to take on more responsibility to prevent hate offline and online.
On the anniversary of the Terror attacks we launch our 3rd Islamophobia in Australia Report authored by .
— IslamophobiaRegister (@IslamophobiaReg)
In partnership with . .
Thank you for launching it
Link 👇🏾
The report - which is the Islamophobia Register'sthird 'Islamophobia in Australia' report -analyses247 verified Islamophobic incidents that occurred from January 2018 to December 2019.
A total of 138 of the incidentsoccurred in personand 109 occurred online, according to the register.Twelve percentof allphysical casesand 65 percent of all online caseswere reported within the first two weeks after the Christchurch attacks.
The report also revealed that78 percent of perpetrators were identified as men, a rise from73 percent in the2014-2016 report; while82 percent of victims werewomen, an increase from72 percent in the previous report.
The Islamophobia Registerhighlighted that cases analysed arejust the tip of the iceberg asIslamophobia is "consistently underreported".
Christchurch attacker without the possibility of parole in August 2020 after pleading guilty to 51 charges of murder. However, last November his lawyer said the attacker was .
