EARLIER this month, I sat in a room and listened as dozens of Muslim women talked about their experiences of hate crime.

One had been attacked on her own doorstep by a neighbour, as her children looked on. Her ten-year-old daughter had been shouted at and racially abused outside their home.

Another had been subjected to a torrent of vile and angry abuse at work, by a man she was trying to help. Her employers did nothing.

An older woman had a child’s buggy driven at her aggressively as she tried to do some shopping, while racist bile dripped from her attacker’s tongue.

And another tearfully told how she had a bottle of liquid thrown over her in the street and for a single, heart-stopping moment, thought she had been the subject of an acid attack.

The liquid turned out to be orange juice, but her terror was symbolic of the daily dark cloud these women live under, on our streets and in our towns.

She went home and immediately showered, scrubbing the juice off her skin, feeling ashamed and isolated.

The stories are too numerous and varied to be detailed in this column. The policewoman who had come to the event at Middlesbrough’s Islamic Diversity Centre to try to encourage Muslim women to report hate crime, seemed shocked.

Cleveland Police hasn’t enjoyed the rosiest of reputations in recent years, but the staff member and officer at the meeting were incredibly moved, concerned and respectful of these women’s stories, saying that due to underreporting, the police did not know the extent of these kind of crimes.

Many Muslim women are particularly identifiable because they wear headscarves as part of their religion, and they are easy targets for the haters. But some had in the past had bad experiences with reporting it to the police, something the force is trying to tackle with procedures to take every hate crime seriously, to build up a picture of the worst offenders and try to stop them.

After well-publicised terror attacks by extremist groups calling themselves Islamic freedom fighters, the abuse on these lawabiding women always steps up a gear.

Living as a Muslim woman in 21st century Teesside is no easy task. It is constantly looking over your shoulder, trying not to answer back when someone shouts abuse at you in case it makes things worse, although many of these spirited women do try to defend themselves. For those working in public-facing jobs, it is facing unwarranted abuse and hate from those you are trying to help.

It was an emotional evening. The women were given advice about reporting the crimes – although one said if she reported every incident she would be on the phone every minute of every day – and the police went away armed with a more thorough picture of Islamic hate crime.

I hope things improve for these women.

I hope they can carry on with the dignity they have so far shown, in the face of remorseless hate.

There is a climate of fear and ignorance at the moment, but with patience and understanding, and listening, I hope we can overcome the darkness.