LONDON: Three-quarters of Muslims in Britain are worried about their safety following a wave of right-wing extremist unrest across the country, according to a poll by the Muslim Women’s Network.

Only 16 percent said they felt the same way before the violence broke out. Almost 20 percent said they had experienced hostility in Britain before the first riots in Southport on July 30, sparked by a stabbing in a youth club in which three young girls were killed and many more injured.

Misinformation was spread on social media, with the attack alternately being attributed to a Muslim or an asylum seeker.

The suspected attacker was later identified as 17-year-old Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff.

The unrest spread to other major cities in the UK, and mosques were attacked in numerous places.

In an interview with Sky News, two Muslim women who were in one of the mosques attacked by rioters – the Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool – expressed their concern about the prevailing climate in Britain.

Lila Tamea, a 26-year-old student, said: “There was almost a feeling that the police were not protecting us. So it was really important that not only the Muslim community showed solidarity.”

“There were quite a few non-Muslims who came together that Friday to defend the mosque.”

Amina Atiq, a 29-year-old poet, told Sky News: “I felt it was unfair that we as a Muslim family were not given a chance to mourn the three little girls. Because shortly afterwards we felt that we ourselves were more suspect for the attack.”

Muslim Women’s Network chief executive Baroness Shaista Gohir told Sky News: “The number of hate crimes has increased over the last decade and the strategy to combat hate crime is outdated.”

She added: “I want to see hate crime laws strengthened and the term ‘hostility’ defined.”

Gohir said the charity was setting up a hotline and more people, especially Muslim women, needed to report hate crimes so society could better understand how common they are.

“What really worries me is when women call and say, ‘We were abused and we were with our children.'”