I’ve lived in Wath-upon-Dearne for 22 years now. The atmosphere in the area has gradually calmed since the protest. There was still a lot of bad feeling initially due to the sentences that were passed – locally, a lot of people felt they were unduly harsh – but that seems to have calmed now too.

Anger was my immediate reaction to the riots. Anger at the danger, anger that people felt they were justified in behaving the way they did. I felt, and still feel, that whatever view you hold on any given situation, it isn’t justified to attack property or people. It isn’t okay to set things on fire, to throw missiles, or to roam residential properties causing damage and destruction. It’s not right to impose and instil fear in people working and living locally.

People, predominantly men, were adamant that they were ‘taking a stand against the migrants’ because there had allegedly been an increase in assaults locally by men perceived to not be ‘local’. Everyone knew the hotel was being used to house migrants, and they were all men (as far as I’m aware and had seen). Locally, there had been a lot of talk about how people felt it wasn’t right or safe for women and children who live here. I don’t think enough was done by the council, councillors or police to calm those fears or provide accurate data to either correct or negate those opinions.

Then, when the murders occurred at Southport, the floodgates seemed to open. At that point, public fear was at an all-time high, and because there was no one, nationally or locally, who was willing to talk to people, give reasons and explanations, or even correct the misinformation, people decided to take matters into their own hands. To say it was to protect ‘women and children’ was, in my opinion, disingenuous. Children must always be protected from any perceived danger, but to claim that risks are solely from migrants is woefully incorrect.

Additionally, why did anyone think women needed protecting? As a woman and a mother, I am more than capable of protecting myself and my children. I don’t believe women need to be kept or looked after. I believe that’s an old-fashioned view from a time when women were seen as lesser and weaker. Women have proven time and time again, over decades and centuries, just how capable they are, how strong and resilient they are. So to attack a hotel and the police in the name of ‘protection’ was an excuse, pure and simple. No one needed to attack anyone in my name.

What happened to the migrants? Were there just men in the hotel, or were there families there too? Did they come here to settle, for a better life? Were they fleeing war and persecution?

But also, doesn’t anyone look at the parallels? Where has hate ever got anyone? What riot has ever solved anything? Anti-Jewish riots happened before the Second World War (and many, many times before that). Did the riots change anything? Did the war? People don’t look closely enough to see the similarities. They just want to tell you why they’re justified. They don’t want to listen or learn, they just want to correct and spread misinformation.

Ask the right questions and demand the right answers from the right people: politicians, councillors, the police. Don’t just attack and use ‘protecting women and children’ as an excuse for violence, hatred and intolerance – and expect me, a woman, to think that’s okay.