Coercive Control: Muslim Women on Racism and Responsibility in Australia – STATEMENT FROM MWA CEO

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13 January 2026

At Muslim Women Australia (MWA), our stance has been deliberate and principled. When we have chosen silence or reduced public engagement, it has not been disengagement or indifference. It has been self-preservation.

We have refused to continue participating in a public dynamic where harm is denied, responsibility is one-sided, and accountability is absent. We have refused the expectation that Muslim women must endlessly explain, reassure, and absorb hostility in order to be deemed acceptable or deserving of safety.

For over 40 years, MWA has walked alongside Muslim women and families, listening, supporting healing, and advocating for dignity, safety, and rights. What we are witnessing today is not new, but it is deeply concerning.

Islamophobia, or anti-Muslim racism, in Australia continues to shape the everyday lives of women and families in tangible and harmful ways. During school holidays in particular, many mothers restrict movement, avoid certain areas, and hesitate to go out alone with their children. These are not irrational fears; they are protective responses shaped by lived experience and repeated harm.

The patterns we are witnessing reflect recognised forms of coercive control in cases of domestic violence, where harm is minimised, scrutiny is constant, and responsibility for managing safety and harmony is placed on those experiencing the harm. Muslim women who speak about racism are dismissed as overreacting, accused of being divisive, or told they are the problem. Instead of the harm being recognised and lived experience being acknowledged, the focus has shifted away from the harm itself and onto our response to it.

In this context, silence or withdrawal is not disengagement; it is self-preservation in response to sustained control and lack of accountability, as is often the case in domestic violence. In this dynamic, Muslims are expected to remain calm, grateful, and endlessly resilient. We are repeatedly asked to explain, reassure, and uphold social cohesion, even as our safety and dignity are compromised. Accountability is absent, yet responsibility is relentlessly placed on those most affected.

We remember the Gulf War, September 11, Bali, Cronulla, Christchurch, and countless other moments that reignited suspicion toward Muslim communities. Each time, Muslim women were placed at the centre of scrutiny, asked to condemn violence we had no part in and to prove our belonging, while leadership repeatedly failed to confront racism at its roots.

This is not resilience; it is a system that has normalised harm. Anti-Muslim racism isolates women, fractures families, and teaches children that their safety is conditional. It limits participation in public life and erodes trust in institutions meant to protect all Australians.

MWA rejects this narrative. Muslim women do not owe silence, gratitude, or emotional labour in exchange for basic dignity. Real social cohesion is built on justice, accountability, and respect, not on the endurance of those most harmed.

We call on leaders, institutions, and the broader community to recognise these patterns for what they are. Muslim women and families deserve safety, belonging, and freedom without conditions, interrogation, or justification.

We are not responsible for the violence of others. We are not explanations or symbols. We are human, and that should be enough.

With justice, peace and solidarity.