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Female members of the Sikh community in the Midlands area are recounting a spate of religiously motivated attacks has caused widespread fear within their community, pushing certain individuals to “change everything” concerning their day-to-day activities.

String of Events Triggers Concern

Two violent attacks against Sikh ladies, both in their 20s, in Walsall and Oldbury, have come to light in recent weeks. A man in his early thirties faces charges in connection with a faith-based sexual assault linked to the alleged Walsall attack.

Those incidents, along with a violent attack targeting two older Sikh cab drivers in Wolverhampton, led to a parliamentary gathering in late October about anti-Sikh hate crimes across the Midlands.

Ladies Modifying Habits

A leader working with a women’s aid group based in the West Midlands commented that females were altering their regular habits to ensure their security.

“The terror, the total overhaul of daily life, is genuine. I’ve never witnessed this previously,” she noted. “This is the first time since I’ve set up Sikh Women’s Aid where women have said to us: ‘We are no longer doing the things that we enjoy because we might get harmed doing them.’”

Females felt “uneasy” going to the gym, or going for walks or runs currently, she indicated. “They now undertake these activities collectively. They notify friends or relatives of their whereabouts.

“An attack in Walsall is going to make women in Coventry feel scared because it’s the Midlands,” she explained. “Clearly, there’s a transformation in the manner ladies approach their own protection.”

Public Reactions and Defensive Steps

Sikh temples throughout the Midlands are now handing out personal safety devices to women to help ensure their security.

Within a Walsall place of worship, a devoted member mentioned that the incidents had “altered everything” for Sikhs living in the area.

Specifically, she said she was anxious visiting the temple alone, and she cautioned her senior parent to stay vigilant when opening her front door. “Everyone is a potential victim,” she said. “No one is safe from harm, regardless of the hour.”

A different attendee explained she was adopting further protective steps during her travels to work. “I try and find parking nearer to the bus station,” she said. “I put paath [prayer] in my headphones but it’s on a very low volume, to the point where I can still hear cars go past, I can still hear surroundings around me.”

Echoes of Past Anxieties

A mother of three expressed: “My daughters and I take walks, but current crime levels make it feel highly dangerous.

“We’ve never thought about taking these precautions before,” she said. “I’m looking over my shoulder constantly.”

For someone who grew up locally, the mood is reminiscent of the racism older generations faced during the seventies and eighties.

“We lived through similar times in the 80s as our mothers passed the community center,” she recalled. “We used to have the National Front and all the people sat there and they used to spit at them, call them names or set dogs on them. For some reason, I’m going back to that. In my head, I think those times are almost back.”

A community representative supported this view, saying people felt “we’ve returned to a period … characterized by blatant bigotry”.

“Residents fear venturing into public spaces,” she declared. “There’s apprehension about wearing faith-based items such as headwear.”

Authority Actions and Comforting Words

City officials had installed extra CCTV around gurdwaras to reassure the community.

Police representatives stated they were conducting discussions with local politicians, ladies’ associations, and local representatives, along with attending religious sites, to discuss women’s safety.

“The past week has been tough for the public,” a high-ranking official addressed a gurdwara committee. “Everyone merits a life free from terror in their community.”

The council declared it had been “actively working alongside the police with the Sikh community and our communities more widely to provide support and reassurance”.

One more local authority figure remarked: “We were all shocked by the awful incident in Oldbury.” She added that the council worked with the police as part of a safety partnership to tackle violence against women and girls and hate crime.