Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It's a timely reminder that women continue to be the victims of domestic and family violence, sexualised and gendered violence in conflict, and random acts of violence. This week we were shocked at the unprovoked attack on a Muslim woman in a cafe in Western Sydney. I'm sure that anyone who has seen the footage will be as disgusted as I was at this unprovoked attack. Unfortunately, these kinds of attacks, both verbal and physical, on visibly Muslim women continue to happen. The report Islamophobia in Australia says three-quarters of Islamophobic attacks are on women, and particularly women who wear the hijab, the visible face of Islam.

I take comfort from the words of the woman who was attacked—who, by the way, was 38 weeks pregnant and was hit several times, as well as having her head stomped on in this terrible and unprovoked attack. Her name is Rana Elasmar. Rana says:

We are mothers, wives, daughters … and we deserve to feel safe wherever we go. We deserve a night out to unwind without being fearful of an attack like this happening again.

Yes, Rana, you do deserve that. Yes, Rana, we all deserve that. We deserve to feel safe in our homes and in public spaces.

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