In the next two weeks, the city of Boston will hang 50 posters to address public harassment and Islamophobia.

The posters present "A bystander's guide to helping a person who is being targeted," with the title "ISLAMOPHOBIC HARASSMENT" in bold, capital letters on top. Illustrations depict a woman sitting on a bus or train wearing a hijab, and an angry man yelling at her. A woman intervenes, conversing with the victim until the attacker walks away. The artist employs shades of purple and blues for the drawings, making the race of the illustrated characters unclear, though the intervening bystander appears to be white.

Parisian artist Maeril designed the cartoons, which depict what the city calls "non-complementary behavior." The posters ask bystanders to engage in random conversation with the victim (in the posters, the bystander asks the victim, "Do You Like Movies?...I just saw a really good one!"). The poster says such rapport builds "the safe space" which is expected to "push" the attacker to leave the area.

The city's push to hang the posters follow reports of harassment against people of Muslim faith across the country, including a verbal attack against a Muslim woman on the MBTA's Orange Line last month.

"Education is key to fighting intolerance, and these posters share a simple strategy for engaging with those around you," Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement.

Suzan El-Rayess, the Civic Engagement Director at Boston Cultural Center's Islamic Society, says the bystander approach can be applied to victims targeted in any situation, "whether Muslim, Latino or otherwise."