Britain is failing its Muslim citizens, a monitoring group said on Wednesday, as it revealed an "explosion of anti-Muslim hate both online and on our streets".
Tell Mama released its annual report today, which showed a 326 per cent increase in public incidents of anti-Muslim hate in 2015, including physical and verbal attacks.
The group reported 437 of these incidents last year, up from 146, and said perpetrators were "putting their hatred into action".
In total, 1,128 incidents were reported to Tell Mama in 2015, more than 800 of which were found to be anti-Muslim.
The figures revealed that women were most likely to be subject to abuse – 61 per cent of incidents had a female victim.
More than half (55 per cent) of victims were "visibly Muslim," the report said, increasing to 75 per cent of cases involving women.
"Women are therefore more likely than men to be attacked on public transit hubs or whilst shopping," it said, noting that religious head wear played a role in identifying and targeting female victims, and that "young white males" were the most common perpetrators.
"The statistics paint a profoundly bleak picture of the explosion of anti-Muslim hate both online and on our streets, with visible Muslim women being disproportionately targeted by cowardly hatemongers," said chair of Tell Mama, Shahid Malik.
"This exponential growth is a testament to the fact that despite great efforts to fight anti-Muslim hatred, as a society we are still failing far too many of our citizens. With the backdrop of the Brexit vote and the spike in racist incidents that seems to be emerging, the government should be under no illusions, things could quickly become unpleasant for Britain's minorities."
Malik added that the UK stands in "unchartered territory" as it faces a post-Brexit future after a campaign fraught with anti-immigrant rhetoric.
"Today more than ever, we need our government, our political parties and of course our media to act with the utmost responsibility and help steer us towards a post-Brexit Britain where xenophobia and hatred are utterly rejected," he said.
"Failure to demonstrate the necessary maturity in leadership at this delicate moment in our history could have some significant and far-reaching consequences for us all."
