Council adopts All Party Parliamentary Group’s definition of Islamophobia

Bridgend County Borough Council has adopted the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia.

The APPG on British Muslims was established in 2017 to examine a broad range of issues that British Muslims care about and are affected by. Following two years of consultation, the group published a report titled ‘Islamophobia Defined: the inquiry into a working definition of Islamophobia’ which contained the following definition:

‘Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.’

The adoption of the definition aims to demonstrate the local authority’s commitment to supporting the Muslim community and to work with them to tackle Islamophobia.

This is the first step to helping deal with the very real nature of Islamophobia.

Islamophobia is often misunderstood, ignored and even allowed to take place openly across society.

The adoption of a definition will signal to Muslim communities that there is a willingness to address Islamophobia and provides a framework to be used to identify prejudices that may be faced locally. This helps build trust in communities which can lead to openness, more reporting on incidents and general relationships being developed for long term work.

Councillor Dhanisha Patel, Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Future Generations

The Cabinet Equalities Committee voted for the local authority to adopt the definition at a meeting on Monday 8 November.