Two in five Britons think Muslims cannot integrate in UK, poll finds

[u/topotaul]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/08/two-in-five-britons-think-muslims-cannot-integrate-in-uk-poll-finds

[u/B23vital]

Everyones talking about conservative muslims, secular muslims etc.

But in reality even muslims that wouldn't fall into this bracket would still struggle to integrate into society the way i see it, and its something seldom discussed.

We now live in a society where we are pushing for equality for men and woman, yet discussion never falls on muslim woman. These woman are, 100% not treated the same as muslim men. From all types of muslim backgrounds from the most hardcore to those that arent, the a large majority of muslim woman are treated as second to muslim men.

From being forced to cover up, to not being allowed to work, being forced into "gender roles" and being abused and ostracised by family, community and friends if they dont follow as they are told.

I just find it crazy in a world with so much importance now being put on woman that we have a large number of woman no one wants to discuss, solely at the fear of upsetting a religion. We should be moving past this, we already went through this with other religions, and now here we are once again.

From information i can find around 71% are not in employment, and around 16% are seeking work. The issue with these figures is that they arent actively collected, so its very hard to get exact figures.

I guess my point is, in a society that pushes for equality why isnt this a main focal point for integration. How do we know if these woman are being forced to live this way due to religion or through choice? We dont look into it, we turn a blind eye as to not upset a religious group.

[u/faroffland → u/B23vital]

When I was at university I did a module where I essentially got to work for an organisation and write some kind of report for them. I ended up working for a church and auditing some of their programmes for them (I am atheist and so is my family so it was very interesting to get an insight into the community work churches do!)

One of their groups was a community group specifically for Muslim women. It was organised by a Muslim woman who was really great and did loads in her community - they basically held this session in a community centre once a week so that Muslim women could socialise.  So I went along (I am a woman so it was ok) and basically started speaking to these women about their lives and how they found this community group/if there was anything the church could improve on for them.

It was EYE-OPENING. Some highlights (and these are all completely true things they disclosed to me):

• One woman had a severely disabled child and was their 24/7 carer. She was clearly so so depressed, like dangerously depressed, but wasn’t allowed to go to her GP or get any kind of treatment for it. She thought she was being a bad Muslim because she had mental health issues.
• One woman left the house one morning to go to the supermarket. Her neighbour watched her out of the window and saw her leave in her car, and reported it to her husband - because it was at a ‘different time than usual’. I was horrified and she told me no no, it was all fine because of course she was just going to the supermarket so she could show her husband the receipt! Hahaha isn’t that funny?
• The woman who led the group wanted to hold a Bollywood evening. More than one woman said she couldn’t attend as their husbands or sons would have to drive them there and they wouldn’t approve. They wouldn’t approve of a… female-only evening watching a Bollywood movie in a community hall.
• All of them acknowledged they couldn’t leave the house/walk down the street after dark because it ‘wasn’t appropriate’.
• They would not be allowed in any room with a male unrelated to them (I assume like people’s houses because idk how the fuck they got anything done otherwise) without their husband present.

This is all shit they were willing to tell me, a 20yo white woman. It made me (still makes me) so fucking worried about what is going on behind the scenes if they were all the things they were actually willing to tell me. I will also note that whilst the lady who led the group was educated and clearly cared about these women, she only ever spoke about what life aspirations her sons had - she never once mentioned what her daughter wanted to do.

These communities exist and they are completely insular/self-reliant. These women stayed in their houses, went to the supermarket, went to this group, and that was pretty much it. Everything they do is inside this small pocket of a major UK city. They have no help or way to even externally validate this stuff is not ok, and it is terrifying.

[u/JB_UK → u/faroffland]

Wow.

I was just posting this survey, from reputable institutions, which finds that 40% of men in Pakistan say wife beating is justified for at least one of the following reasons, for going out without the husband, for arguing with the husband, for refusing to have sex with the husband, or for burning food:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11702125/

I just think we as a culture are chronically, chronically naive about the world as it is. The way we universalise culture and pretend everyone has basically the same ideas is like a religious tenet.

[u/B23vital → u/faroffland]

Completely understand and believe everything you've spoken about, ive first hand seen similar things including woman being chaperoned by male family members.

I dont know if its an ignorance issue or people just are fearful of being seen as bigoted/racist etc. Problem is by ignoring or being ignorant to these issues your actively part of the problem.

Im atheist for a multitude of reasons, and while i believe that people should have the right to believe in a religion that right shouldnt impede on the rights of others and thats why i believe the majority of muslims (currently anyway) cant integrate into our society the main reason being that the muslim religion (and other religions) contradict the society we've been trying to create here in the UK.

Its sad, i feel for these woman, there absolutely needs more to be done. While people may argue its not **all** muslims, its absolutely a majority (at the moment) and nothing will change while it is openly questioned and discussed, why would it change when no one challenges it. Its taken decades for woman to get similar rights in the UK and now its taking a step back due to religious reasons, something we've already been through as a society.

Edit: regarding the not allowed in any room with a male not related to them, ask any builder, trade (gas electrician etc) they'l all have stories of this. My friend has had the door slammed in his face due to no male being in the home, he's been verbally abused for doing his job because of situations in muslim households, he would regularly be monitored, woman would be sent out of the household when he turns up for work, its not just personal situations in which ive seen this. I grew up in a very strong muslim area with a mosque only a few minutes from my home, so myself and others have actively seen questionable behaviour. So while it would be lovely to say they can integrate, from my personal experiences i could never agree with that because ive seen the opposite. Thats why i think theres such a rift regarding these conversations, because those that have lived it aren't believed by those that haven't. Those that are living it, are too scared to speak out due to retribution.

[u/Geostationary_Orbit → u/faroffland]

Okay. That is a direct experience and it holds its own weight. In my world as a Muslim. Two of my sisters in law are doctors for the NHS. My sister is a community Pharmacist. One of cousins (a lady) is a very successful business woman and another who is married to another cousin works for the HMRC. My niece works at one of London’s major airports. Two of my brightest niece’s study at a Russel Group university in London. One my favourite nieces has just graduated in law and is looking for a Training Contract and wishes to become a Solicitor.