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Tell MAMA

Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks)
FounderFiyaz Mughal
TypeProject
Legal statusPart of Faith Matters CIC
PurposeTo ensure that anti-Muslim incidents and attacks in the UK are mapped, measured and recorded, and support provided for victims.
Location
  • United Kingdom
ServicesAnti-Muslim hate monitor and victim support service
Director
Iman Atta
Parent organization
Faith Matters CIC
Websitetellmamauk.org
Mission statement
To ensure that anti-Muslim incidents and attacks in the UK are mapped, measured and recorded, and support provided for victims.

Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) is a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom. It is modelled on the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) and like the CST it also provides support for victims, working closely with organisations such as Victim Support. The reception of the group by British Muslims is highly mixed, due to the relationship between Tell MAMA and the Jewish CST group (perceived negatively due to its support of Zionism).

Tell MAMA was launched[1] on 21 February 2012 by Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for the Department for Communities and Local Government and is co-ordinated by the interfaith organisation Faith Matters.[2] Faith Matters was founded by social entrepreneur Fiyaz Mughal OBE, a former adviser to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, on Interfaith and Preventing Radicalisation and Extremism.[3] The organisation's statistics have been the subject of debate,[4] but were referenced by Theresa May when speaking at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on 23 March 2015.[5]

The project was set up with government backing, and received start up funding from the Department for Communities and Local Government between 2012 and 2013.[6] In November 2012, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced a further £214,000 annual funding for Tell MAMA up to October 2013.[7][8][9] Tell MAMA was funded for an initial period of 2 years and was funded on the basis of being self-sustaining after two years.[10] Tell MAMA covers a range of issues and cases,[11][12] and also works with mosques across the country.

Tell MAMA has had significant press coverage on its work to monitor anti-Muslim hate after the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris in 2015.[12] It also reported on the rise of school-based anti-Muslim hate incidents that took place after the Paris murders,[13] as well as on continuing anti-Muslim hate incidents on both Facebook and Twitter.[14] Tell MAMA has additionally worked on some high-profile cases involving alleged anti-Muslim discrimination – for example at the Savoy Hotel, where the female worker in question who alleged the anti-Muslim discrimination was represented by Tell MAMA.[11]

The BBC programme Inside Out highlighted the work of Tell MAMA through a programme entitled "Behind the Veil".[15] It publicised the discovery that there was a 70% rise in Islamophobic hate crimes reported to the Metropolitan Police Service in the year July 2014 – July 2015, when compared to the same period the year before.[16]

  1. ^ Mughal, Fiyaz. "Tell MAMA offers hope for overcoming hate crime in the UK". Common Ground News. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  2. ^ Fiyaz, Mughal. "Launch of the Tell MAMA project". Tell Mama. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Lib Dem's announce new BME advisors". Manchester Evening News. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference gilly2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "A Stronger Britain, Built On Our Values – Speeches". GOV.UK. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  6. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2014". Parliament UK. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  7. ^ Clegg, Nick. "Deputy Prime Minister extends funding to tackle hate crime against Muslims". Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Clegg: Let's end 'abhorrent' prejudice against Muslims". Manchester Evening News. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  9. ^ Don Foster, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (12 November 2012). "Town Centres". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons.
  10. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 30 Apr 2014 (pt 0001)". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b Matt Watts (6 July 2015). "Teenage waitress: I was humiliated by Savoy staff for wearing a hijab – London – News – London Evening Standard". Standard.co.uk. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  12. ^ a b "London mosques 'sent death threats and drawings of Prophet Mohamed' after Charlie Hebdo attack". London Evening Standard. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  13. ^ Cahal Milmo (23 January 2015). "British Muslim school children suffering a backlash of abuse following Paris attacks – Education News – Education". The Independent. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Facebook, Twitter Allowing Islamophobia to Flourish: Report". NDTV. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  15. ^ "Inside Out – Behind the Veil". BBC iPlayer. 7 September 2015.
  16. ^ Sehmer, Alexander (7 September 2015). "Hate crimes against Muslims in London 'up by 70%', police figures show". The Independent. Independent Print Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2016.

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