The far right don’t protect women

Women are rejecting the myths about migrants and refugees being a threat

The far right and fascists protesting outside hotels housing refugees like to say they are protecting women and girls. But the spate of racist attacks we have seen over the past month shows this is anything but the case.

The hotel protests have provoked a series of violent assaults, including towards women.

A woman NHS worker was assaulted in Halifax, Yorkshire. A woman wearing a hijab was racially abused after she encountered a group of men painting St George’s Crosses on a shop front in Basildon, Essex.

Far right Youtubers, such as Charles Veitch, gather followers and make money by harassing people, including anti-racists, Palestine demonstrators and LGBT+ people. Like playground bullies, they make up vile nicknames and try to taunt women based on their physical appearance.

There is a contradiction in the right’s claims about women. Several of the protests outside hotels have featured women wearing pink known as the “pink ladies”.

Some protests have children present and use slogans about wanting to protect women and girls.

They have stoked fears that migrants and refugees in hotels are a danger. In Bromley, south London, and Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, they claimed that a hotel was full of dangerous men. In actuality, it housed children, women and families.

The anti-refugee protests are organised by a core of fascists. It helps them to have women joining. They can soften their image and portray themselves as “concerned locals”.

But the far right and fascists only value women as mothers. They see a woman’s primary role as staying home and raising the children. When anti-racist women are on the streets protesting, they are seen as enemies.

Muslim women are put in an impossible position by the right. On the one hand, they are seen as vulnerable and in need of protection from Muslim men. On the other, they are seen as part of a migrant invasion and fair game for racist abuse—and worse.

But women are rejecting the myths about migrants and refugees being a threat. A letter in the Guardian newspaper, spearheaded by Stand Up to Racism, rightly argues that the far right “exploit violence against women to fuel hate and division”. It is signed by prominent women, such as Zarah Sultana, Diane Abbott and Paloma Faith.

It calls for unity and real action to end violence against women and girls, which it says is endemic across society.

We need a broad and diverse movement, with women at the forefront, to stand up to the racists and show we won’t be intimidated and won’t fall for their lies.

• Sign the open letter here

Labour sows division

Amid a torrent of anti-migrant protests outside of hotels housing asylum seekers, the Labour party has announced that it is dropping refugee family reunion applications.

This is part of a broader immigration crackdown by prime minister Keir Starmer’s government.

Under the current system, an asylum seeker who has indefinite leave to remain can apply to bring their partner and children to live with them in Britain. This will be scrapped.

Labour is buckling under the pressure from Nigel Farage, and his far right party Reform UK, which is whipping up anti-migrant racism.

Farage and his cronies have accused the government of moving too slowly in their mission to “stop the boats”. In response to this, Starmer has eagerly sought to demonstrate that his party is “tough on immigration”.

But in doing so, Starmer is laying out the red carpet to the far right. Amid the recent wave of violent racist attacks, Starmer announced on Monday that he would accelerate plans to empty asylum hotels.

But introducing racist policies that scapegoat migrants is a deliberate ploy by the government to distract from its own failures. And it feeds further division, dehumanisation and prejudice.

Labour is pandering to far right pressure. But, this will do nothing to curb Reform’s surging support. Anti‑racists must oppose the Labour government’s racist scapegoating.