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Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Myths about albinism include the belief that a child with albinism is a curse meted out on the mother or family of the child. It is also sometimes believed that children with albinism are the result of their family's or parent's evildoing and they are therefore considered a punishment to the whole family and community. In most cases, the blame for having a child with albinism is often attributed to the mother because the curse is believed to be matrilineal, transmitted by the mother's side of the family. There are also beliefs that women who give birth to children with albinism are unclean, or even in some cases witches. A similar myth is that the mother of a child with albinism stepped onto something evil, leading to a curse on the whole family.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- Similarly, myths accuse the mothers of children with albinism of having been unfaithful, specifically for having extraconjugal affairs with a white man, with a ghost or with a spirit such as the tokolosh (a malevolent spirit in the Shona tradition). There is also a myth that children with albinism are the product of incest.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Further, it is also sometimes believed that albinism can be contracted by being in contact with albinism. The same myth is extended to things that have been touched by persons with albinism. There are also beliefs that if a pregnant woman looks at a person with albinism, even unintendedly, her unborn child will be born with albinism, unless she spits to neutralize the "curse". Persons spit at the person with albinism, on the floor, inside their shirts or on their stomachs in the case of pregnant women. One mother of a child with albinism reported that she gave birth to a child with albinism for having herself stared too hard at a person with albinism while fetching water during her pregnancy.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- Other myths seek an explanation in existing traditional beliefs associated with childbirth. It has been reported, for example, that the birth of children with albinism could be linked to the "snake inside the woman" turning away from that pregnancy. The snake is considered the protector of the pregnancy, monitoring it. Other explanations are that a child born with albinism was conceived when a woman had intercourse while she was menstruating. Further, some mythological beliefs seek to explain the condition by advancing that the mother of the child with albinism was struck by lightning or that albinism occurs when a mother does not consume enough salt in her diet.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The lack of understanding of the condition is also illustrated by myths that persons with albinism cannot have children who do not have albinism, or that they are sterile. Furthermore, it is often believed that persons with albinism can only be found within one`s proximate race; consequently, the worldwide status of the condition is often not generally known. This narrow understanding of the frequency of albinism feeds into myths which present the condition as a particular problem supernaturally aimed at specific women and families.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, myths also portray children with albinism as symbols of evil spirits that need to be chased away. To do so, it appears that rituals are conducted whereby the child is forced to drink a potion or go through other ritual ceremonies and trials by ordeal.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- In areas where myths are prevalent, the birth of a child with albinism is often viewed as a social tragedy. Ridicule, blame-throwing, harrowing family intervention and pressure placed on parents or on the mother of the child are commonplace. Because of the social stigma attached to having a child with albinism, fathers of children with albinism sometimes decide to abandon their partners, leaving those children to be brought up in challenging conditions by single mothers. Often, such a single mother and her child are further relegated to the fringes of the community to avoid contaminating others with her "curse". In other instances, mothers voluntarily relocate away from the community to minimize taunts and harassment from others. Therefore, raising a child with albinism in these contexts, either as a single mother or in a family, is synonymous with a life of exclusion and poverty - one that leaves the child with albinism vulnerable to both sexual and physical attack, as has been demonstrated by reported cases. In other cases, children with albinism have been abandoned or rejected from their birth by both mother and father and have grown up in orphanages and on the streets.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Poverty
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Community support and integration have been identified as key protection measures for persons with albinism. Therefore, excluding and ostracizing persons with albinism have a direct impact on their safety and make them more vulnerable to attacks. Ostracized and physically distanced, those who are in most dire need of protection are rendered more vulnerable. The exclusion of mothers of children with albinism by their family and community throws them into deep poverty. Not only are these women physically distanced from others, they tend to live in insecure homes, which leaves them easy prey to perpetrators of attacks. They are often left exposed to attacks where no one will respond in time, or at all, to their call for help.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- One of the most extreme consequences of adhering to myths concerning albinism is infanticide. Although cases of infanticide of children with albinism are very hard to document, anecdotes and folk stories about the killing at birth of such children, particularly in rural areas, are common.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Such stories have also been reported in contemporary times. Village folklore describes how mothers are advised by midwives to sit on their babies or asphyxiate them at birth if they have albinism. In other cases, it seems that the child is left to die, with no food. Similarly, it has been reported that children with albinism have been instantly killed at birth for fear of the shame attached to the condition, or because of a belief that they bring bad luck. Other folklore describes practices such as drowning children with albinism in a lake or placing babies with albinism at the exit gate of a cow pen, where they are left to die from being trampled on by cattle. Still other folklore recounts the ritual killing of children with albinism, who have been accused of being witches, by putting them in bags and smashing the bags against a tree.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- Various authors have emphasized the continued reliance on witchcraft in many African societies and the necessity to take the phenomenon into account to fully understand the contemporary social context. It has also been reported that, despite opposition by religious leaders, access to basic education, and the enactment of legislation criminalizing witchcraft accusations and some forms of practice, witchcraft still remains embedded in society. It remains attractive to a significant number of people as it promises a holistic explanation for human hardships, including by linking socioeconomic misfortunes to other apparent "misfortunes", such as the birth of a child with albinism in a family.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- There is a witchcraft belief that the screams of a victim being attacked for muti or juju enhance the power of the body parts; hence victims are often hacked while alive. In addition, there is a witchcraft belief that the greater the innocence of the victim whose body parts are being used, the greater the potency of the potion or amulet. This renders children, already vulnerable to attacks, a preferred target.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- In addition, there have been cases where persons with albinism themselves have been accused of witchcraft and persecuted as a result. This can be linked to some of the dehumanizing myths described above. Mothers of children with albinism have also, in certain instances, been accused of witchcraft for giving birth to a child with the condition.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- In this context and owing to their visibility in most of the affected communities, persons with albinism, and parents of children with albinism, constantly live in fear of attack. Many do not sleep peacefully and have deliberately restricted their movements to the necessary minimum, during daylight hours and when escorted by trustworthy persons. Mothers have sent their children to live with relatives or in boarding schools. Yet, even there the fear remains, as such establishments are often in need of increased security measures.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- Other children have dropped out of school or have been withdrawn by their family to remain under the protection of their parents. The security of children both on the way to school and at school cannot be ensured, including during recesses. Most rural schools do not have basic security items such as fences to ensure the children's protection.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The livelihood of parents of children with albinism has also been affected by these atrocities. Owing to the need to stay at home and protect their children, parents do not tend their crops or go to market. Similarly, adults with albinism avoid attending to their farms and gardens as they used to. This has driven families already living in poverty into dire straits.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- Fear of attacks has also worsened the economic situation of persons with albinism who are not able to cultivate their land, go to the marketplace or initiate economic activity in freedom. The same can be said of parents of children with albinism, who often have to curtail their economic activity to accommodate the need to watch over their children day and night and to escort them to and from school. This strain on family economics increases the likelihood that a child with albinism will be viewed as a burden or curse on the family. This in turn increases the child`s vulnerability to attacks initiated or facilitated by family members.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 69
- Paragraph text
- Lack of information about the need for special sun protection for persons with albinism, who lack natural protective pigment, is highly detrimental. The absence of access to sunscreen lotions or sun-protective clothing, as well as lack of adequate, affordable and accessible medical care, leaves persons with albinism highly vulnerable to skin cancer. It is not uncommon for persons with albinism to die of skin cancer before the age of 40 and for children younger than age 5 to present with pre-cancerous lesions. These health issues, in tandem with discrimination, poverty and lack of education, are amongst the factors responsible for the very high number of skin cancer fatalities among persons with albinism in sun-intense countries.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- Further, there is a need to formally educate persons with albinism because such a person becomes a role model and demystifies misbeliefs about the condition. However, there remains the challenge of discrimination at schools, which is linked to ongoing myths and ignorance on the part of both students and teachers alike. Moreover, the lack of support and reasonable accommodation, including the provision of low vision devices, for persons with albinism remains a substantive barrier to education. These issues have led many children with albinism to stop their education. School dropout has a particularly severe impact on children with albinism because it destroys their chances of finding work indoors, which in turn exposes them to poverty and skin cancer, conditions paving the way to early death due to ritual attacks and skin cancer respectively.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- Albinism is a rare, non-contagious, genetically inherited condition that affects people worldwide regardless of ethnicity or gender. It results from a significant deficit in the production of melanin and is characterized by the partial or complete absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. In order for a person to be affected by albinism, both parents must carry the gene and, in that case, there is a 25 per cent chance that a child will be born with albinism at each pregnancy. The proportion of persons affected by albinism in the world differs from region to region. For example, in North America and Europe, it is estimated that 1 in 17,000 to 20,000 people are affected by the condition, while in sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 5,000 to 15,000 could be affected, with specific countries having a much higher tendency, including estimated rates of 1 in 1,400, and about 1 in 20 persons in the general population carrying the gene for albinism. Other studies suggest that in specific groups in Panama or in the Pacific region, the rate of people affected could be as high as 1 in 70 to 1 in 125.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- As an initial step, the mandate holder will outline, in broad strokes, some of the obstacles with which persons with albinism are confronted. The obstacles identified constitute the main areas of concern and priorities of the mandate holder and include human rights violations such as attacks, desecration of graves, trafficking of body parts, displacement, discrimination against persons with albinism, as well as human rights violations based on disabilities, challenges in the right to the highest attainable standard of health and the right to education. The Independent Expert would also like to draw attention to the particularly concerning situation of women and children with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- The large number of cases reported by civil society no doubt represents a fraction of the attacks against persons with albinism. The secrecy that often surrounds ritual attacks, the complicity of family members in certain cases, the difficulty in accessing data owing to the fact that most attacks occur in rural environments, as well as the low response to such attacks may serve as hindrances to the reporting and visibility of attacks. Moreover, discrimination against persons with albinism and significant impunity may also have an impact on the reporting of such cases. Impunity was also highlighted by OHCHR, which had received information that persons with albinism faced significant difficulties in having their cases brought to justice. In a similar vein, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children has stated that the human rights violations committed against children with albinism are of the highest severity. Discrimination, harassment and violence, including cases of mutilation and murder, are often met with passivity and rarely reported, as they often take place in remote areas and because such children are perceived as bringing bad luck and being a source of shame to even their own families and communities. Mutilation and murders of children with albinism are mostly met by social silence and indifference.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Attacks against persons with albinism in some areas have caused hundreds of persons, particularly women and children, to flee their homes and seek refuge in temporary shelters. This has been the case in remote border areas or in areas particularly affected by attacks.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- In addition, as a protection measure, children have been transported to shelters, including police stations, schools or centres built for other needs, such as for people living with leprosy. Most of these shelters were neither designed nor prepared for an influx of persons with albinism, nor are they equipped to address the special needs of persons with albinism. Reports show that inhabitants with albinism are exposed to early skin cancer risk and various forms of abuse. Furthermore, as pointed out by the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee in its study on the situation of human rights of persons living with albinism, an assessment by the OHCHR field presence of the situation of displaced persons with albinism in Burundi showed the precarious security situation of some of them and the negative impact of the measure on the right to an adequate standard of living.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- In so-called Western countries, persons with albinism face the effects of entrenched misconceptions and misunderstandings of the condition. Discrimination through mockery or bullying of school-age children owing to their appearance has been reported. Given the relative rarity of albinism, popular culture, such as movies (a majority of which depict albinism negatively), are often the sole source of information on the condition for the majority of the population, fuelling widespread misconceptions and misunderstanding of the condition.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Bullying of school-age children owing to their appearance has also been reported in other regions of the world, such as in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in that region, discrimination takes more extreme forms, including infanticide, physical threats and attacks. Lack of information on the condition facilitates the spread of myths to explain albinism, most of which are erroneous and in some cases dangerous, including myths that people with albinism are ghosts or the result of conception during menstruation or the result of a general curse. Life in that context could be described as a cycle of discrimination. Civil society has reported that ostracism of entire families owing to the strong negative connotation of the birth of a child with albinism, perceived as a source of misfortune in certain regions, contributes to infanticide and abandonment of children. Where there are no systematic birth and death records, identification and reporting of such cases are even more difficult. In some regions, children with albinism drop out of school for reasons linked to stigma and because no reasonable accommodation is made for the vision impairment often resulting from albinism. A lack of education combined with widespread absence of health information often lead persons with albinism to employment outdoors with no protection from the sun, which exposes them to a high risk of skin cancer.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Women and children with albinism are particularly vulnerable as they are exposed to intersecting and multiple forms of discrimination. In addition, children are particularly targeted for ritual killings and women are sometimes victims of sexual violence. The Human Rights Council Advisory Committee also stressed the specific challenges faced by women and children with albinism in that regard.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Children with albinism are often particular targets of attacks due to the witchcraft-based belief that the innocence of a victim from whom body parts are taken increases the potency of the potion for which the body parts are used. Cases reported by civil society indicate that children constitute a large proportion of victims of ritual attacks.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- As noted by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, children with albinism are at high risk of abandonment, stigmatization and marginalization as a result of their appearance, and due to disability factors associated with their condition, such as impaired eyesight and sensitive skin.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- Discrimination against women takes various forms. Women with albinism are reportedly victims of targeted acts of sexual violence spurred by the myth and misbelief that sexual intercourse with a woman with albinism can cure HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, women who give birth to a child with albinism may face ostracism and discrimination. They are also exposed to rejection by their husbands or partners, accused of adultery or infidelity and blamed for giving birth to a child who is generally seen as a curse or a bad omen. The rejection of mothers of children with albinism exposes them to poverty and isolation and increases the vulnerability to attacks of both mother and child with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph