Australian woman Stacey Eden has been hailed a ‘legend’ after she defended a Muslim couple from Islamophobic abuse on a train in Sydney last Wednesday.
A female passenger, who can’t be seen in the film, was accusing the Muslim woman of being an ISIS supporter because she was wearing a hijab. Stacey said that the abuse continued for at least ten minutes before she decided to that enough was enough, stepping in to defend the woman’s choice of clothing and filming the altercation on her mobile.
The recorded footage begins with the unnamed passenger asking the woman:”why do you wear it [a hijab] for a man that marries a six year-old girl?”
Stacey responds: “She wears it for herself, OK? She wears it because she wants to be modest with her body, not because of people like you who are going to sit there and disrespect her.”
The abusive passenger doesn’t back down, but Stacey stands her ground and both women tell each other to ‘shut your mouth’. “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything,” Stacey can be heard telling the older woman.
Stacey has been praised for her actions and the footage she posted on her facebook wall has now gone viral. Islamophobia is a very real problem in our society today and we need more people like Stacey to defend peaceful Muslims from another, more acceptable type of extremism.
Have you ever experienced or witnessed attacks on Muslims in a public place? Did you speak out? Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments.
