Selma Taha, the director of an organisation that helps Black and minoritised women to live from abuse and violence, last Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, publicised a vicious attack on her by a White woman in the UK.
The head of Southall Black Sisters said while on the London Underground, she was racially attacked, resulting in clumps of hair being ripped from her scalp and bite marks.
According to Taha, her attack happened despite an off-duty police officer sitting nearby. She said the incident was not stopped before she got injured.
Taha reported the incident on Sept. 29 around 11:30 p.m. BST. She and two friends, one of whom was also attacked, were on a Northern line train from Camden Town to King’s Cross when the incident happened.
UK authorities later identified the 30-year-old White female attacker and locked her up. She was arrested on suspicion of assault and a racially aggravated public order offense. The woman is no longer in custody after being released on bail.
Taha claims the whole incident started when the woman pushed a suitcase toward her and her friend, and when they asked her to remove it.
The attacker launched a racist tirade, including calling them “slaves” and making derogatory comments like “It’s not my fault you’re lesser than me” and expressing how she didn’t have a “like for Black women.”
The aggressor then went on to make monkey sounds to invoke an age-old race-based mockery.
She did not stop there. The woman then physically attacked Taha.
Southall Black Sisters is a not-for-profit organisation working for “the needs of Black and minoritised women” with aims to “highlight and challenge all forms gender-related violence against women”.
The group said:
“We demand that appropriate action be taken against the assailant and the police officer.”
London’s Victim’s Commissioner Claire Waxman said she was in contact with the group and would meet them this week.
