In light of Christchurch...

“Salam brother”, these are the last words of the first victim of the Christchurch shootings. The extension of kindness and welcoming which was given by all attending the mosque only highlights the grotesque coldness of the terrorist attacks.

Therefore, the feminist society would like to extend our condolences and hope to those affected by the terrorist shootings which occurred in Christchurch, New Zealand. This comes only a day after Brazilian attacks which occurred within a Sáo Palo school.

The right to worship and express religious freedom is a human right, as well as the right to access education freely and without fear. It is intensely sad to see that these human rights have been once again taken away with such malice and cowardice.

In the case of the Christchurch shooting from the information that we have at the moment (Friday 15th March), the shooting was religiously and racially motivated. With the express intention of creating fear within the Muslim community, and is a terrorist attack.

The rise of hate crimes has doubled in the past five years and is likely to be related to Brexit and the ideology which surrounds it, in Britain. Whilst religious hate crimes have increased by 40% in the last two years, in Britain. These shocking statistics pave the way for incidents which predate these most recent terrorist attacks. So many times media encourages us to focus on preventing radicalisation of Islam, forgetting that so close to us there is a radicalisation of a different kind. This is not symptomatic to just New Zealand, Britain or America. White supremacy is a vicious and viral ideology which has for so long been spoken of softly and gone without retribution.

New Zealand sets the standard for so many other countries which have experienced these awful attacks. Just six days after the government has made changes to ban semi-automatic weapons which previously could have been sold to the public. So many times there has been a failure in the United States, time after time, to prevent dangerous people, getting hold of extremely dangerous weapons. The New Zealand Prime minister encourages us to say the names of victims, and not the perpetrator. Which is so important in a time in which shock factor gains views. We must not give in to the egotistical and nasserists requests of fame given by people who deserve no more attention.