Many women are afraid to go out, particularly on their own, after religiously aggravated rapes and assaults
Sikh women in the Midlands have told how a spate of religiously motivated attacks have caused fear in their community, forcing some to “change everything” about their daily routines.
Two rapes of Sikh women, both in their 20s, in Walsall and Oldbury, have been reported in recent weeks. John Ashby, 32, has been charged in connection with a religiously aggravated rape in relation to the alleged Walsall attack.
Those incidents, as well as a violent attack on two elderly Sikh taxi drivers in Wolverhampton, prompted a meeting in parliament at the end of October about anti-Sikh hate crimes in the region.
Sukhvinder Kaur, the chair of Sikh Women’s Aid, a domestic abuse charity in the West Midlands, said women were changing their daily routines to protect themselves.
