Hull riots leave women 'too scared to leave home'

Hull Sisters offers support to women from all backgrounds

A charity in Hull that supports women of all ethnicities said it had been forced to close its doors until September over fears for its members' safety.

There would usually be at least 150 women at Hull Sisters, but when the BBC visited the charity on Tuesday, just a handful of people had gone along to collect food.

The group's founder, Sonia Jalal, said the weekend's riots had changed everything.

"The women are extremely terrified. They are not coming out of their homes. They are thinking that they'll be attacked by these racist people," she said.

Tara said the weekend's disorder had left her scared

The charity helps women from abroad integrate into British life, as well as those seeking sanctuary from abusive homes.

One of the women helped by the charity is Tolu, an international student from Nigeria who is afraid of being followed home.

She said: "What if they come to the house? I've got kids. What if I can't run as fast as I could? What if my kids can't?"

She added that she had never witnessed anything as terrifying as the weekend riots.

Tara arrived in Hull from Pakistan to study. She said that in the year-and-a-half since she arrived in the UK, she had not experienced racism until Saturday.

The walk to the centre in broad daylight had left her heart racing. She said: "There was a crowd of white people. I was feeling a little bit scared. Maybe they have something hidden in their hand and maybe suddenly they attack me."

Tolu, meanwhile, said she could not be sure she would ever feel the same about the city that had previously come to feel like home for her.

She is dreading September and her children going back to school, and her fear is that hate could be waiting for them at the school gates.