Women afraid to be out in public after racially aggravated rapes

Make-up artist Ravita Pannu has put years of hard work into her beauty salon in Walsall.

Born in nearby Wolverhampton, she is an established business owner and proud mother.

But she is also one of several Asian women in the West Midlands who told the BBC they are now constantly looking over their shoulder. And she is afraid that her daughter will leave home.

That’s because within two months and just 10 miles (16 km) apart, police received reports of two racially aggravated rapes.

Early on September 9, a Sikh woman in her 20s was raped on Tame Road in Oldbury.

And on the evening of 25 October, another Sikh woman, also in her 20s, was raped in the Park Hall area of ​​Walsall. A. 32-year-old man named John Ashby charged.

In both cases, the perpetrators were unknown to the victims.

Another woman was beaten Electric shock device in Wolverhampton October 27 for what police say was a racially aggravated physical (but not sexual) assault.

Sukhvinder Kaur, chairman of the board of trustees of the Sikh Women’s Aid Society, said the helpline was receiving more calls than ever from fearful women.

A single woman from Walsall with three daughters asked for donations from the charity because she was worried about her daughters walking to school because their route included the road where the Walsall attack took place.

Ms Kaur said: “There’s a real sense of fear now; it’s not the far-right narratives on TV, it’s not a social media thing, it’s coming to our streets now.”

West Midlands Police said it was “our priority to make the area a safer place for our communities, particularly women and girls”.

The force added that it was also engaging with “women’s charities, women community leaders, community safety partners, independent advisory groups and local politicians to discuss women’s safety”.

don’t talk later Charges laid over Walsall attack Last week Chief Supt Phil Dolby said the force understood the “fear and anxiety this attack has caused in our communities”.

We spoke to Asian women of different faiths in Birmingham and the Black Country who expressed concerns about their safety. Some said they felt safe living here before, but now they are afraid to leave their homes or even be left alone at home.

Shabnam Ansari, a Muslim woman from Dudley, said: “I wear a hijab so I was always aware that I could be a victim of racism.

“But what happened in Oldbury and Walsall made me feel like being brown was enough of a target to be physically and sexually abused.”

Jazzy Kular, a 51-year-old teacher from Birmingham, said the rapes made her afraid to open the door to strangers.

Council worker Kavita Masawala, 41, from South Birmingham, added: “As an Asian woman born and raised in Birmingham, it is heartbreaking to hear about these rapes.

“It’s 2025 and we still need to watch our backs and worry about the color of our skin.

“Now I have to think twice before going for a walk.”

Mahsooma, a mum from Birmingham who did not give her surname, visited Walsall’s playgrounds and said she was no longer sure if she could pick up her children.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” he said.

Beauty salon owner Ravita has almost 30,000 followers worldwide on Instagram, most of whom are Sikh women in the US, Canada and Dubai.

“I was contacted by followers from abroad who couldn’t believe what was happening,” he said. “[They feel] “This sense of tension, stress and anxiety for their sisters in the UK.”

The 45-year-old man fears for the safety of his daughter at home, who is around the same age as the victims in Walsall and Oldbury.

“We told our daughter: There are no more buses, we will pick you up from work,” Ravita said. he said.

However, she wants to get the balance right because she is wary of exerting too much control over her child. Recent events have her worried that some Asian families will be too strict with their daughters.

“As a mother, do I want my daughter to wander outside? [right now]? “No,” he said.

“I’d like to wrap him in cotton wool and keep him close to me, but we can’t do that either because he has a life to live and by right he should be able to do that.”

While women think about how safe they feel on the streets and in their homes, community organizations are also discussing whether to raise a rape alarm.

Sukhvinder Kaur says women feel they have to recalibrate their entire lives and personal freedoms.

Details of help and support regarding sexual violence can be found at: BBC Action Line.