A new national study has laid bare how unsafe public transport has become for Muslim women in the UK. Almost half of respondents, 45.3 percent, said they feel unsafe while travelling, a figure that’s more than five times the national average for women. The survey, conducted by Muslim Census and Muslims in Rail, shows how routine the hostility has become: 34.3 percent reported direct Islamophobic or racist abuse, while nearly seven in ten said they now change their routes, travel times or even their clothing simply to avoid being targeted.

The fear intensifies during far-right demonstrations, with 96.3 percent saying public transport feels more dangerous at those moments. Yet only 12.5 percent of incidents are ever reported, largely because women don’t believe anything meaningful will happen if they speak up. Their testimonies are grim — hijabs pulled, people being spat on, shouted at, physically threatened and treated as though they’re somehow suspicious just for looking visibly Muslim. For many, commuting has turned into a constant calculation of risk.

What this really highlights is a broader national problem. Anti-Muslim hate has climbed sharply across the UK, and Muslims now make up 44 percent of victims in religiously motivated hate crimes. The findings make it clear that this isn’t about a few isolated incidents; it’s a pattern of hostility shaping how Muslim women move through public space every single day.