On 13th September, the UK witnessed its largest nationalist rally in recent memory. Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally saw over 100,000 people gather in London. This rally was not only fuelled by nationalism but by fear. “Our women, our daughters are scared to walk the streets” Robinson told his cheering crowd. “Their safety has been taken from them”, he claimed, stolen by “the hands of open borders, mass uncontrolled immigration”.
This rallying cry to protect women from the apparent threat posed by illegal immigr tion is nothing but a smokescreen to hide the far-right’s aggression. With a track record of intimidation, threat and violence towards women, the far right have nothing to show for the protection of women’s rights. Reform UK and Advance UK have capitalised on the fabricated need to protect women and girls from the threat of illegal immigration.
Their anti-immigration narratives have shifted from focusing on the pressures illegal immigration places on jobs, housing and schools to characterising migrants as sexual predators. They claim illegal immigrants are responsible for violence against women, yet there is no statistical evidence proving immigrants are more likely to commit such crimes than any other member of society. In fact, these crimes are most commonly committed by individuals known to the victims; friends, colleagues, family members or intimate partners.
That is not to say random cases of violence against womendo not exist, they do. But using these isolated cases, especially when the figures show differently, to scapegoat entire immigrant communities ignores the reality: most violence against women is committed by men they already know, most often in their own homes. 41% of the 899 people arrested for taking part in the far-right riots last July and August, claiming to protect women from violence, had been reported for domestic abuse. With under 24% of domestic abuse cases reported and convictions among the most difficult to obtain, it is possible the true number of domestic abusers at the riots was much higher.
These figures highlight the gross hypocrisy of the far right. They claim to protect “our women, our children”, yet they are often the perpetrators of such violence, or are willing to stand alongside those who are. Holding these men accountable for gender-based violence would require dismantling power structures the far right depends on.
Consequently, they deflect the blame onto marginalised communities, weaponising the pain and trauma of women to promote their racist ideologies and spread division in our communities. Blaming immigrants for such violence is particularly cruel when considering the realities many have fled. Most did not come to the UK simply seeking “a better life’, they escaped war, persecution, gang violence or economic collapse.
Though not always recognised as refugees, many have endured unimaginable trauma. I have worked for refugee and migrant support organisations for over four years. During that time, I’ve heard some of the most disturbing instances of sexual violence.
With watered eyes, fathers have told me of the rape, murders and abuses their daughters, wives and family members have suffered. Now, having escaped such horrors, they’re accused of being the perpetrators they once fled. This is not to say cases of violence against women never happen at the hands of immigrants, they do.
However, these cases are isolated and extrapolated to make insidious racist claims. In doing so, the far right fails to address the broader issues and risks that let perpetrators go unchallenged. They exploit the trauma and pain of women to advance their racist narratives, diverting attention from the systematic nature of gender based violence.
We have a responsibility to expose and reject this narrative. The voices of women deserve to be heard without manipulation. Those who have escaped the horrors of war deserve our protection.
We can achieve this with unity where the far right aims to divide, and love where the far right seeks to hate.