Islamophobia in Slovakia: fear of the unknown

The minimual amount of Muslims currently present in Slovakia are experiencing hatred towards them and Islamophobia is on the rise. Research has shown that Islamophobia is produced by prejudice and fear of the uknown. This study aims to examine factors which contribute to the negative perception of refugees in Slovakia and what contributes to the rise in Islamophobia. It builds to extend the work of other scholars which have previously looked into this issue, by testing the theory and combining numerous factors together. This study therefore asks: Do economic factors and the influence of news outlets and political parties lead to negative perceptions of Muslims and therefore support Islamophobia in Slovakia? Based on this question, primary and secondary qualitivave research was conducted to test to which extent media, politics and economic situation affect perception of refugees. Analysis of responces indicated that the biggest factors contributing to Islamophobia was prejudice conducted and spread by news oultets and politians, with economic economy playing a big role in people perceived safety of their welfare first. Further research is required to identify cultural and historical reasons behind prejudice and Islamophobia in this region. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org