#HASTalks is a seminar series curated by the department of Health, Aging & Society at McMaster University.

Dr. Fatimah Jackson-Best is a public health researcher with a specialization in mental health and whose work focuses on communities in Canada and the Caribbean. Currently Dr. Jackson-Best is an Assistant Professor in the department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact and holds a joint appointment in the department of Medicine at McMaster University. Her new program of research will explore the impact of Islamophobia on the mental health of Black Muslims, Muslims, and Muslim women in Canada.

Compounded Islamophobia: The Impact of Anti-Black Racism and Gender-Based Discrimination on Muslim Mental Health in Canada

Data from Statistics Canada (2023) indicates that Muslims experienced the second highest rate of police-reported hate crimes committed between 2018 and 2021. Data collected from Muslim and non-Muslim Canadians over the last 15 years show societal indications of rising Islamophobia. An under-explored manifestation of Islamophobia is through the mental health of Muslim people which includes the marginalization and trauma Islamophobic incidents cause and extends to the mental healthcare they try to access and may receive. This presentation focuses on the impact of Islamophobia on the mental health of Muslims and explores how mental healthcare-seeking and the therapeutic relationship can be impacted by Islamophobia. Because Islamophobia is often gendered and racialized, we also explore how anti-Black Islamophobia (Mugabo 2016; Jackson-Best 2019), and gendered Islamophobia affect Black Muslim women who exist at the intersection of race, religion, and gender.

ALL are welcome to attend this FREE online session! Register for this event via Zoom.

Please note: This session may be recorded. Please be aware that any materials entered, exchanged, or viewed by participants during the session may be recorded.