First Muslim woman to become an MP in Australia fights back at trolls

A Muslim woman has become a member of parliament in Australia for the first time. Now she is fighting back against social media trolls that attack her with sexist and racist abuse. Mehreen Faruqi said there is a real vile mix of racism and sexism happening within the country and she believes it comes from people who think she doesn’t belong in Australia.

Faruqi is an Australian Greens Party MP in the New South Wales Upper House and a former environmental engineer. In 1992, she fled from an oppressive regime in Pakistan with her husband and then infant son.

Now she finds herself in a cascade of abuse from internet trolls. The internet abuse makes her feel like some people do not want her to be in Australia. She said it may be due to her colour or religion. “That is pretty upsetting,” Faruqi told the BBC in Sydney.

But Faruqi, a member of parliament in Australia’s most populous state since June 2013, is not allowing racism and sexism abuse ruin her life. Instead, she is fighting back against her tormentors by launching a Facebook project.

Faruqi’s online project is called Love Letters to Mehreen. She explained that she and her staff pick a particularly hate-filled message every few weeks and respond to it in a humorous way. And the Facebook project, she said, has really taken off.

She thinks people appreciate that hate issues are being discussed. Faruq said it is quite cathartic for herself, as well as for her staff.

An example of hate-filled message that Faruqi receives are questions like how a Muslim has been let into Australian politics. She believes that anti-Muslim views are nothing new, but chooses to respond to them “with just a touch of sass” and hides the identity of her critics when she reposts their offensive messages.