A childcare worker is afraid to leave her home alone after being one of two women attacked at Epping Plaza, prompting advocacy groups to call for immediate action amid a rise in Islamophobic incidents.

The second woman, 30, who was pregnant, reported the incident to the Islamophobia Register Australia — a not-for-profit organisation set up to track and report any form of anti-Muslim abuse.

In her report, she said she was attacked from behind and the woman “pulled her scarf off and choked” her while she was sitting with a friend at a cafe.