In 2017 more than 1600 articles of six Spanish national newspapers were examined and analyzed by the Observatory of Islamophobia in the Media, launched by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the Al Fanar Foundation for Arab Knowledge. The initiative has the support of the Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, Casa Árabe, and the Euro-Arab Foundation, and was joined by Mare Nostrum Excellence Campus (University of Murcia) in 2018.

One of the findings of this analysis was that gender islamophobia is flagrant! More than 65% of the analyzed articles that deal with Muslim women or the veil were Islamophobic. Most of the newspapers present many generalizations that stigmatize Muslim women. Moreover, social, education and labor discriminations of Muslim women in Spain are often reported.

In this context, the IEMed, along with its partners of the Observatory of Islamophobia in the Media, organized a “laboratory” to design social communication campaigns focused on gender islamophobia. The workshop which took place on October 29th in Valencia (Spain) was facilitated by Jovesolides in collaboration with the City Council of Valencia, and aimed at exploring the causes and consequences of gender Islamophobia. It gathered several civil society organizations and activists to reflect on how to advocate for a more neutral and balanced coverage in the media based on innovative tools and an efficient communication.