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TORONTO

FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL

If you're a Muslim Torontonian worried about your safety on public transit, a growing number of your neighbours have your back.

Police and the Toronto Transit Commission are investigating two cases of women wearing hijabs being harassed on subway trains. An earlier assault on a Toronto woman, racist graffiti and arson at a mosque in Peterborough, Ont., are part of a growing trend of anti-Muslim violence following last week's terrorist attacks in Paris.

On Twitter, Torontonians have begun showing their support to Muslim neighbours with the hashtag #IllRideWithYou, offering to accompany Muslims on public transit:

The same hashtag was used last year in Australia after the deadly hostage-taking at a Sydney café by Man Haron Monis, an Iranian-born man who styled himself a sheik. Brisbane resident Rachael Jacobs's offer to walk with a Muslim woman on a train started a nationwide social-media campaign.

The hashtag is not to be confused with #illgowithyou, a campaign used by transgender allies – modelled after the Australian campaign – to help transgender people safely use gendered washrooms. The hashtag has gained in popularity during Transgender Awareness Week, which ends Friday.


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