Muslims’ Experience with Islamophobia in Slovakia

Abstract

In several European countries, Slovakia included, Islamophobia has been shaped by the challenges faced by Europe (an influx of refugees, terrorism, rise of the far right) since circa 2015. Anti-Muslim narratives have penetrated politics as well as the media and are shared by a significant part of the Slovak population. This article aims at contributing to the existing research on Islamophobia in Slovakia through an exploratory case study focusing on a different perspective, Muslims themselves. The main objective of the research is to identify the magnitude and character of Islamophobia experienced by Muslims in Slovakia since 2015. Data were gathered using an online survey. The findings revealed not only the extent but also the most common features of Islamophobia experienced by Muslims, including the type of incidents, the places of their occurrence, and the nexus between Islamophobic incidents and origin of respondents (Slovak or foreign), external manifestation of their faith, and sex.