Bystander Intervention Project
The Problem
For the last twenty years, hate crimes against Muslims have been on the rise. In 2016, they increased exponentially nationwide due in part to the Trump Administration's rhetoric; CAIR-Chicago has seen an unprecedented increase in anti-Muslim harassment since 2016.
In the past five years, we have seen Muslim women brutalized in public, Muslim children beat up at school, and Muslim families threatened by violence in their own homes. At the beginning of 2020, we witnessed the start of a global pandemic during an election cycle. Since then, we have also seen a sharp rise in anti-Asian harassment across the country, with Illinois being the 3rd ranked state in number of reported incidents. When attacks towards Asians, Asian-Americans, and Muslims started making the news, it became clear to us that the same trends we saw during 9/11 of scapegoating, blame, possible violence, and loss of business will affect our communities long term due to COVID-19 and bigoted political rhetoric.
Our Training Program
CAIR-Chicago has partnered with Advancing Justice -Chicago and Hollaback! in providing an one-hour, interactive online training. Participants will:
learn about the types of disrespect and dangers that Asians, Asian-Americans, and Muslims are facing right now and throughout history — from microaggressions to violence.
understand what to look for in scenarios and the positive impact that bystander intervention has on individuals and communities.
talk through five strategies (5Ds) for intervention and how to prioritize your own safety while intervening.
practice using the 5Ds so that participants are confident intervening the next time they witness Islamophobic or Anti-Asian harassment.