Scotland’s Islamophobia.

Islamophobia in Scotland

• l The Scottish Government should work to address the shortfall in data about Islamophobia in Scotland.
• l The Scottish Government should fund research and projects that adopt an intersectional approach to Islamophobia.
• l The Scottish Government and other authorities should pay specific attention to improving the analysis of the intersections of religious and racial discrimination.
• l The Scottish Government should work towards adopting a formal definition of Islamophobia to promote understanding, to encourage reporting and to indicate their commitment to addressing it.

Gendered Islamophobia l All initiatives about Islamophobia in Scotland must pay specific attention to its gendered nature.

Misrecognition and Islamophobia l Include in all training on countering Islamophobia an acknowledgement that people from diverse ethnicities and religious backgrounds can experience Islamophobia, as they may be mistaken for being Muslim.

Reporting Islamophobia

• l The Scottish Government should actively support initiatives to recruit more officers from within Scotland’s diverse communities, including Muslim officers, into Police Scotland.
• l Require all local authorities, schools and Police Scotland to ensure that all officers are regularly provided with high-quality training on countering Islamophobia.
• l The Scottish Government should fund awareness-raising programmes about the safe reporting of Islamophobia.
• l The Scottish Government should review all legislation relevant to Islamophobia and adjust this where appropriate to ensure the full inclusion of Islamophobia within this.
• l The Scottish Government should fund restorative justice initiatives to work with offenders.
• l Promote and encourage the reporting of Islamophobic incidents, with support offered to victims.

Factors Enabling Islamophobia

• l The Scottish Government, all leaders of political parties and Council leaders should be proactive in taking a public stance against Islamophobia.
• l The Scottish Government should instigate an independent review into Islamophobia in Scotland.
• l The Scottish Government should integrate considerations about Islamophobia into the ongoing work of the Race Equality Framework.
• l The Scottish Government should work to ensure the appointment of Muslims to public boards, advisory groups and other senior positions.
• l The Scottish Government should provide funding for initiatives, organisations and agencies that challenge Islamophobia and racism.
• l Given the weight of evidence against ‘Prevent’, Schedule 7 and related counter-terrorism legislation, the Scottish Government should take steps to encourage the withdrawal of these and related strategies.

Islamophobia and the Media

• l Require editors and journalists to endorse and proactively use the CPG media guidelines. 
• l Require all journalists in Scotland to participate in regular and compulsory training on the role that the media play in fostering Islamophobia. This should include the use of visual imagery. 
• l Require all editors to consult regularly with the Muslim community in order to promote understanding and prevent misrepresentation.
• l Actively promote careers in journalism to graduates within Scotland’s diverse communities.

Islamophobia and education

• l The Scottish Government should fund and support initiatives that educate the people of Scotland about the damage that Islamophobia does to Scottish society.
• l The Scottish Government should fund and support initiatives that demonstrate the positive contributions of Scotland’s Muslim population to Scottish society, politics, culture and history. l Integrate an understanding of Islamophobia into compulsory components of the Scottish education curricula and all teacher training education.
• l Provide all teachers and lecturers in Scotland regularly with compulsory training to counter Islamophobia.
• l Require all educational institutions to create safe spaces for discussion, prayer and reflection. l Require schools to establish dress-code policies that are sensitive to the needs of Muslims.
• l Encourage colleges and universities to establish links with employers with a good and/or leading record for diversity and championing ethnic diversity and anti-racist initiatives/policies. l Conduct a review of Education Scotland’s framework, ‘How Good is Our School’.
• l The Scottish Government should ensure that the Public Sector Equality Duty is enforced in schools and provide additional training so that this can be better implemented and enforced.
• l Encourage COSLA to develop and implement appropriate programmes of race equality in the school workforce.
• l Improve the reporting and recording of Islamophobia in schools.
• l Scrutinise Education Scotland and the Race Equality Action Plan to see where improvements can be made.

Islamophobia and Employment

• l Develop a workplace discrimination toolkit to aid in the identification and combatting of Islamophobia in the workplace.
• l Include representatives from Scotland’s diverse communities – where possible – on interview panels in the workplace.
• l The Scottish Government should pay specific and ongoing attention to issues relating to ethnic and religious health inequalities, employment experiences and poverty. l Require the STUC to develop a comprehensive strategy to challenge Islamophobia and anti-Muslim prejudice in Scottish workplaces.
• l Promote the creation and enforcement of ‘dignity at work’ policies that pay specific attention to Islamophobia. Islamophobia and health, well-being and housing
• l Include training to counter Islamophobia and its impact in all education for medical and health professionals. l Include training to counter Islamophobia and its impact in all education provided to mental health professionals and organisations.
• l NHS training should include material on Islamophobia and its impact on NHS doctors, nurses, staff and patients.

Politics and participation

• l The Scottish Government should promote the positive contributions of Muslim politicians and leaders so that these role models are made visible to current and future generations.
• l All political parties in Scotland, at all levels, should proactively adopt a ‘no tolerance’ approach to Islamophobia.

Everyday Life

• l The Scottish Government should fund and support organisations and initiatives that promote social cohesion and integration, particularly for Muslim women.
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Report of the inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland by the Cross-Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia