NEW YORK (Web Desk) – With women now thought to be the targets in 80 percent of anti-Muslim hate crimes reported in the US, one group, some 20, women in Islamic hijab watched on a recent night as their self-defense instructor showed them how to punch a would-be attacker.

At five-foot-two, Rana Abdelhamid looks diminutive, but the Egyptian-American native of Queens, New York is a Shotokan karate black belt.

The human rights activist teaches self defence workshops for Muslim women across the United States, media reports say.

Muslim American Group says the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US has tripled since the Paris attacks in San Bernardino shootings and they say 80% of the victims are women largely because the same hijab Muslim women wear for modesty makes them more visible.