“Humanitarian Bristol” and the reversal of patriarchy

By Anira Khokhar

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, globally, communities connected, humanity was awoken, and support and survival became vital. The world, as we know, came to a standstill. There were no exceptions rich or poor had to abide by the World Health Organisations and Government restrictions.

In contrast to last year, at around the same time – did we have the time to ask our nearest and dearest how they were? Pop our heads over the fence to say hi to our neighbours, share food with the less fortunate, and most of all appreciate time?

At the very start of this pandemic, a sense of compassion for others crept up on most of the global population. Where we had become complacent with life, desensitised to the suffering of others, and consumed within our little bubbles, coronavirus made us stop to think about what mattered the most.

While we found local heroes in our communities willing to put their lives at risk to provide essentials at such a difficult time, surprisingly, society was yet to witness the real strength and power of Muslim women, and their role during this pandemic.

This minority has been subjected to countless negative narratives over the past decade, but one seems to have stuck ‘oppressed’. While I agree there are thousands of women around the world who are a victim of oppression, there is a more compelling smear campaign against Muslim women targeting the religion more than the culture.

I am a British born Muslim woman with Pakistani roots who has continuously been questioned, judged, attacked due to the intersectionality that I am identified, perceived, or given by at birth. This is one of the driving factors of the strength that many women in Muslim communities across the world have to fight back and say “no” you will not speak for me, on behalf of me, or against me.

On March 19th, 2020, things changed in Bristol. An urge to help during this crisis took over, and by the next morning, Humanitarian Bristol had been created. Many reading this will think what is the big deal when so many community welfare groups were created during this pandemic to help others? Well, let me explain why Humanitarian Bristol is a little different, what makes this group stand out from the rest, it is the mere fact that local Muslim women formed the backbone of this growing community welfare group.

At a time where many Islamophobes, consciously or unconsciously would have expected Muslim women to have stayed indoors as per the stereotype that has been created, our PM’s “Stay Home” advice did the complete opposite. Instead, this group of women defied the odds. ; they chose to put their lives at risk to support and provide food parcels to help their local communities, not just Muslims but Bristolians from all walks of life. Their belief was to restore faith in humanity by becoming an example of how, we should be helping, supporting each other, and overcoming hate with compassion during such a difficult time in many people’s lives.

There have been struggles along the way, challenging a narrative against Muslim women created by society, media, and governments. Unaware of who may hold such opposing views when you turn up outside their front door to provide them with sustenance and genuine support. The constant reminder that you may be verbally or physically abused at any time because of the hate campaigns which have resulted in such situations occurring around the country. Nevertheless, these things never stopped these young Muslim women from pushing forward, going into areas which have/are historically known to hold negative views against their faith, their colour or background.

Running parallel to Islamophobia another historical challenge, faced by many women in the South Asian communities is none other than the patriarchy. A serious point of discussion in this community but inadvertently side-lined so as not to bring this whole debate to the surface in the modern-day 21st century.

The driving force behind Humanitarian Bristol were young women who belonged to the Pakistani community, where patriarchy plays a pivotal role in the way women are spoken too, treated, and the decision-making processes. Instead of supporting the work of Humanitarian Bristol, reaching out to people across the city through compassion, strength, and love. The obstacles created by patriarchs to overshadow the work and try and replace this with their male-dominated community response group were in full flow.

However, these women took a stand against this patriarchal mindset, a mindset that they were born into and feared. Defiantly they overcome barriers through a determination to succeed and push through with strength to carry on supporting the local communities while putting their safety at risk, taking on a few male members of their community, and challenging the very status quo that many are afraid to discuss.

Patriarchy is a mindset built on values some men perceive gives them superiority over women. They make decisions for women dictating and crushing their thought processes because they have an oppressive perception of the role of a woman. This process usually involves undermining women, creating animosity between women within their community, creating counter-narratives, and the most consistent is, of course, exercising an intimidating and debilitating attempt to malign individual or family reputations.

This is where Islamophobia and Patriarchy overlap, both undermine the real strength of a woman, and both try and push through a narrative that asserts control back to their chosen one. The resistance and push back from the women within Humanitarian Bristol were down to the same intersectionality that negatively identifies them yet is the epitome of their strength to take a stand and fulfill their goals of success.

The success of Humanitarian Bristol is what society witnesses. However, the real struggles lie deep within each step it has taken for the group to reach goals to help others yet grow and empower themselves. The process has developed unique women by letting them dig deep within their souls and find what mattered to them; their faith, their compassion, their love for humanity, and their love to resist any forms of hate that may try to undermine who they are and what they believe.

COVID-19 has tested us all in different ways. Across the world, we have lost loved ones, jobs, and overall livelihoods. However, the crisis has also given us hope that if we truly listened to our instincts as humans, then race, religion, status, and nationality holds no bearing if respect, tolerance and compassion can form the basis of our lives.

Let us build on these foundations of hope and see where the future could take us to restore the faith in each other, and humanity.

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