A Scots-born Muslim has told of the sustained racist abuse she has suffered - facing Hitler salutes, terrorist jibes and even being spat on.
Linsay Taylor, 41, said constant Islamophobia changed her way of life - as she had to stop using buses and trains.
“I don’t use public transport,” she said. “I don’t walk about streets I am unaware of. It has altered my behaviour.”
Linsay, an environmental project coordinator who lives in Glasgow’s Pollokshields area, is a Scottish-born Muslim who has worn the hijab for four years.
She said she noticed people muttering racist remarks about her when she started to wear the Muslim headress.
She recalled a more upsetting incident in Glasgow: “I was with my mum in town and a woman spat on me. My mum was so upset.”
However, the abuse escalated after she got a job in Falkirk, which she travelled to using public transport:
“As I stepped out of the train station at Falkirk, I saw this guy waving down the pavement.
“I knew he was coming for me. He came right up to my face and actually I thought at one point he was going to hit me.
“He started screaming in my face, that I should go home, that I was a terrorist. Again, he used the ‘p’ word, swearing at me, telling me I wasn’t welcome here.”
The abuse was reported, but it was replicated weeks later near the train station.
Linsay says three young men aimed “Hitler salutes” at her, but they stopped when she started taking pictures.
Her husband was so worried about her safety he asked her to get a car: “Because of what they did, I had to change my way of life.”
Asked about the number of incidents, she said: “Depending where I am, it can be on a daily basis, or a weekly basis, or a monthly basis.
“It’s the little things, like people not sitting next to you on the bus.”
Asked what needs to happen to combat Islamophobia, she criticised politicians like Boris Johnson for fanning the flames, but also the media:
“The media needs to change the way they portray Muslims.”
She said of her religion: “I’m not trying to get in anyone’s face about it. This is just for me and people have an issue with it.”
