Inmates Bullied Into Converting To Islam ( UK )

Sky News ^ | 20 October 2013

[george76]

Sky News has learned that increasing numbers of British inmates are being bullied into converting to Islam while in jail.

...

Sky News spoke to one young woman who said her brother was being bullied by members of a Muslim gang, who were trying to force him into converting to Islam.

The woman did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals against her brother, who is serving a sentence in excess of 10 years in a high security prison in England.

She said: "He just looks like a broken man ... he's tearful on visits. I'm just really scared for him."

She also claimed the bullying had taken a more violent turn: "He's been physically assaulted. He's had black eyes.

"In the showers, he got threatened with a knife. He's not going to back down. He's not going to convert for anyone."

She added: "He just spends his time in hiding in his cell. He's got at least another five years to serve. I don't know how much longer he can hold out."

Official sources acknowledge forced conversions are a problem in the country's prisons.

How large the problem is remains unclear, as inmates are often afraid to report such intimidation for fear of reprisals.

Joe Chapman, a former prison officer who now acts as a prison law consultant, believes the problem is on the increase.

...

There are currently around 11,200 Muslims in prison in England and Wales.

That figure is about 13% of the total prison population and is far higher than in the wider community, where Muslims make up less than 5% of the population.

[Ellendra]

There was a psychological study a few years ago that showed that if people pretended as if they believed a certain thing when they really didn’t, they often ended up really believing it.

I’ve seen it happen in LARPing groups sometimes. A shy, insecure young woman, fresh out of an abusive relationship, joined a LARP where she pretended to be a strong, confident elven warrior every other Saturday. After 2 months that confidence crept into her everyday life, and suddenly she was nobody’s punching bag anymore.

Maybe the same thing happens with forced conversions? Sort of a variation on Stockholm Syndrome?

[babygene]

” A shy, insecure young woman, fresh out of an abusive relationship, joined a LARP where she pretended to be a strong, confident elven warrior every other Saturday. After 2 months that confidence crept into her everyday life, and suddenly she was nobody’s punching bag anymore.”

I think that’s a little different. They showed her that she “could” be, and she wanted it.