On Friday, a woman faces sentencing for racially abusing three women, one of whom was heavily pregnant, on a bus in north London in October.
Simone Joseph pleaded guilty to charges of racially aggravated distress for the attack during which she called the women “Isis bitches” who had “bombs up their skirts” and telling them to “fuck off back to your own country”. She also threatened to kick one of the victims, Hanane Yakoubi, who was 34 weeks pregnant, in the stomach so she would never have children again.
The bus driver left his cab twice to try and stop the perpetrator, the abuse was caught on camera by a fellow passenger and handed on to the police, leading to Joseph’s arrest and conviction. But in many cases when people face racial and religious abuse in public, no one intervenes to help, no one films the abuse and no arrests ensue.
We want to know how people respond when they witness harassment or violence in public places in the UK, particularly on public transport where many of these attacks seem to occur.
If you have been the victim of racial or religious abuse on public transport or in public in the UK, we want to hear from you. What happened? How did people respond? What responses were helpful and how did their responses (or lack thereof) make you feel?
If you have witnessed racial or religious abuse in the UK we want to hear from you. How did you respond? Did you intervene? Why and what was the result?
You can share your experiences via GuardianWitness by clicking on the blue ‘Contribute’ button – all these reviewed contributions will be published. Or if you prefer, you can share your responses in the form below.
