Hana Assafiri opened Melbourne’s Moroccan Soup Bar 20 years ago this June.
Now the owner of two restaurants, she is also the founder of Speed Date a Muslim, a community event to combat Islamophobia.
Since revelations of sexual abuse and harassment have gone viral with the #MeToo movement, Hana Assafiri believes it’s her turn to end the silence. For the first time, she shares her personal story of abuse.
Tell me about your childhood.
I was born in Melbourne in 1964. I am the middle of five children, plus I have another sister 17 years older than me. My Dad’s Moroccan, my Mum grew up in Lebanon. We spoke Arabic at home because Mum didn’t speak English. She felt a sense of isolation and her entire existence was around the family and the home. When I was five or six, we moved to Lebanon. My father travelled to find work and he left us in Lebanon for many years.