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Muslim women have called on Town Hall, police and transport chiefs to clamp down on Islamophobic abuse.

A closed meeting at Finsbury Park Mosque on Friday, organised by Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn’s office, served as a platform for women to tell authorities about the racism they regularly experience in public places.

One woman asked: “Why do people have such a negative image of us? Even my daughter, who works as a teacher, feels she constantly has to defend herself at school.

“The sisters are not coming forward [about abuse they suffer]. People are not reporting it, they are suffering in silence.”

Majida Sayam, of Jannaty Women’s Network, a group of Arabic-speaking women, said one of her members had the door of the 21 bus slammed in her face by a driver. The victim felt it happened because she was Muslim, she said.

Another woman, she told the meeting, was travelling home on a bus with her young daughter, who had just been discharged from hospital with a broken leg.

“A man came and sat next to her and just moved her daughter’s feet from the seat,” Ms Sayam said. “The girl had a broken leg but the woman had no option, she had to take the bus because she couldn’t afford a cab. The driver did not do anything.”

She added: “There are so many problems. I would like police to come and break down barriers between us and the police. Some people from other cultures are scared of the police.”

Naima Benazouaou, 48, head of the mosque’s sisters group, said her son had been attacked by two men on a bus, while a friend was pushed over on a zebra crossing. She believed the attacks took place because the victims were Muslim.

Some noted a lack of trust in the police. One woman said: “We are not blaming all police officers but we need to know where we have to go [to report attacks or abuse] and which police we can trust.”

Mr Corbyn said: “The whole point of today’s meeting is to educate all of us, police officers, TfL, and the council in these matters. We are all developing a better understanding to deal with this horrible situation.”

The mosque was the target of an attempted arson in the wake of the Paris attacks in November last year. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident.

Finsbury Park ward councillor Asima Shaikh criticised the government’s controversial Prevent strategy. Designed to guard against home-grown terrorism, it has been blamed for alienating Muslim communities.

“Young girls who are brought up here are scared to go to the police because they are scared of being seen as an extremist,” she said. “That is because of Prevent, and as a community we need to challenge this strategy.”

Detective Inspector Paul Cheadle, of Islington Police, said: “The important thing is to get these things reported.”

Siwan Hayward, deputy director for enforcement and on-street operations at Transport for London, added: “We need to do better in how our staff are trained and their awareness and understanding. We need a campaign saying everyone is welcome on public transport and I will start that.”

Islington Council is in the process of drawing up a new hate crime strategy in response to an increase in Islamophobia and disability hate crime, as well as homophobic and anti-semitic abuse, Cllr Shaikh said.

‘Let culprits see the hurt they cause’
LABOUR Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has suggested that people convicted of hate crimes should be confronted with their victims as part of “restorative justice”.

The Islington North MP told the meeting at Finsbury Park mosque on Friday: “If people have committed a hate crime, if both parties agree, they should be confronted with the hurt they’ve caused that person, the damage they’ve done to their community, and reckon with themselves about their reason for hurting someone over their culture or nationality.

“You need to respect all groups and nationalities and they must be treated equally before the law.”