Asme Sahimi was outside her work in the Sydney CBD when a man grabbed her hijab from behind, put his legs between hers and flipped her on to the ground.

As he did so, he repeatedly screamed: “You crazy terrorist.”

The man’s weight rendered her powerless, she said.

Asme Sahimi was attacked outside her place of work.

But what was even more hurtful was that no one asked how she was.

“They kind of watched and went about their day,” she said.

At the time, Ms Sahimi, 33, was a project co-ordinator for the NSW government. The attack happened in full view of her workplace.

“Not even the people who I bought coffee from every day said anything,” she said.

“They were right in front of me and I was visibly distraught. He was spitting on me.”

Ms Sahimi’s traumatic experience occurred last year, but a recent spate of attacks on Muslims, and vision of a racist attack on a Brisbane train guard on Sunday, have prompted questions about when to step in if you see someone being physically or verbally abused.

In the past three weeks at least 30 Muslims have been attacked.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/you-could-have-helped-australia-20141016-1140i3.html#ixzz3GMKmiZAl