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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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- In its study on children accused of witchcraft, UNICEF reported that, in many African societies, births considered "abnormal" were generally surrounded by a complex system of representations and rituals. Such births included twins, "badly born" children and persons with albinism. Cases have been reported of parents killing their babies born with albinism for being witches. Where these children are not killed at birth, they are often taken to a spiritual leader or traditional healer to be "healed" through various forms of violent exorcism. Similarly, in a report published by the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence Against Children in 2012, it is stressed that vulnerable children such as children with disabilities, children with albinism, premature babies or specially gifted children are often the target of witchcraft accusations. The link between witchcraft and persons with albinism was also noted in western Sudan where persons with albinism were accused of taking part in "strange and dangerous practices" related to witchcraft.
- 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
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 38
- Paragraph text
- In addition, the common belief that persons with albinism are a bad omen or a curse on their family or on the community, although not, stricto sensu, a witchcraft accusation, does attribute evil qualities to a newborn, with an impact on the mothers and family members in a manner that is strongly analogous to the impact stemming from witchcraft accusations. Consequently, infanticide, abandonment of children with albinism and exclusion of the children and their mothers from community life (either structural expulsion or exclusion from participation) have been reported to the Independent Expert.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Infants
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Gender discrimination and violence based on moral and religious constructs regarding the social or marital status of the mother have been a key driver of illegal adoptions in several countries. In Ireland, the so-called mother and baby homes, which were managed by Catholic organizations, and other maternity institutions, were established in the 1920s to deal with unmarried pregnant women and girls and operated until the 1990s. Conditions in those institutions were deplorable and cases of violence against the women were common (e.g. abuse of expectant mothers, forced labour, neglect and detention). Before the 1952 Adoption Act, most children born out of wedlock were placed in foster care, "boarded out" or informally adopted. After passage of the Act, children were put up for formal adoption. Consent was improperly induced or forcibly obtained and documents, including illegal birth registrations, were falsified on a large scale. Furthermore, there were cases of intercountry adoptions, in particular to the United States of America, which often resulted from the same illegal practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Infants
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 55h
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions adopt or amend legislation with a view to effectively addressing and eliminating harmful practices. In doing so, they should ensure:] That a national system of compulsory, accessible and free birth registration is established in order to effectively prevent harmful practices, including child marriage;
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Female circumcision 1990, para. (b)
- Paragraph text
- [Recommends to States parties:] That States parties include in their national health policies appropriate strategies aimed at eradicating female circumcision in public health care. Such strategies could include the special responsibility of health personnel including traditional birth attendants to explain the harmful effects of female circumcision;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Infants
- Year
- 1990
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In many States, children born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization and genital normalizing surgery, which are performed without their informed consent or that of their parents, leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility, causing severe mental suffering and contributing to stigmatization. In some cases, taboo and stigma lead to the killing of intersex infants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Infants
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Gender-related killings of women 2012, para. 78
- Paragraph text
- Female infanticide has been practiced throughout history, on all continents, and by persons from all backgrounds. It remains a critical concern in a number of countries today. It is closely linked to the phenomenon of sex-selective abortion, which targets female foetuses. Female infanticide has been known to take such forms as the induced death of infants by suffocation, drowning, neglect and exposure to danger or other means.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Infants
- Year
- 2012
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
11 shown of 11 entities