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Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 57
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Government of Papua New Guinea has taken notable steps since 2013 to address sorcery-related violence. Although there are no recorded cases of attacks against persons with albinism in Papua New Guinea, measures were taken to address violence and killings related to witchcraft accusations, which are usually levied against women or members of other vulnerable groups.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 46d
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- [Accordingly, to be regarded as harmful, practices should meet any or a combination of the following criteria:] They are imposed on women and children by family members, community members or society at large, regardless of whether the victim provides, or is able to provide, full, free and informed consent.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 46c
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- [Accordingly, to be regarded as harmful, practices should meet any or a combination of the following criteria:] They are traditional, re-emerging or emerging practices that are prescribed and/or kept in place by social norms that perpetuate male dominance and inequality of women and children, on the basis of sex, gender, age and other intersecting factors;
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 41
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights distinguishes the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief from the freedom to manifest religion or belief. On the one hand, it does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or on the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's choice. These freedoms are protected unconditionally. On the other hand, restrictions on the freedom to manifest religion or belief are permitted if limitations are prescribed by law and are necessary to protect public safety, order, health or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. In joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2014) on harmful practices, the committees recognize that harmful practices are deeply rooted and that there are often attempts to justify them by invoking sociocultural and religious customs and values. However, harmful practices can never be justified and must be eliminated, including by challenging sociocultural norms and attitudes that underlie them. In addition, States cannot justify any delay in taking action on any grounds, including cultural and religious grounds.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 41
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 46b
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- [Accordingly, to be regarded as harmful, practices should meet any or a combination of the following criteria:] They constitute discrimination against women or children and are harmful insofar as they result in negative consequences for them as individuals or groups, including physical, psychological, economic and social harm and/or violence and limitations on their capacity to participate fully in society or develop and reach their full potential;
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 41
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Beliefs that potions containing body parts of persons with albinism can help with relationship problems or restore peace in the family also exist. Further, it is believed that when used in a fragrance, hairs of persons with albinism can be useful for women who want to seduce white men, or for keeping employment. The use for good luck of perfumes or soaps made with body parts of persons with albinism was also reported.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 26
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 88
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The project illustrated the value of such campaigns and associated post-project evaluation not only for the dissemination of information and changing of attitudes and behaviour but also to gather data, as they revealed instructive patterns in the targeted communities. For example, the belief that body parts of a person with albinism have magical powers was found among respondents adhering to various religious groups: Christians, Muslims and traditional believers. In the context of the survey, the latter group had the highest number of believers in that myth. This type of information is helpful for understanding the character of the problem and grounding solutions such as working with all religious leaders. It also identifies areas where increased public education efforts or more targeted projects might be warranted. The evaluation found that youth and women were more likely to have misconceived notions about albinism than men. This suggests that the project did not reach women and youth to the same extent as it did men and that it is necessary to plan and implement further interventions that target these groups in particular.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Men
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 80
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, in her 2013 report to the General Assembly (A/68/256), stated that the difference between trafficking in organs and trafficking in persons for the removal of organs was largely semantic, given that organs were not moved or traded independently of their source, because the victim was moved or positioned in such a way as to make transplantation possible. However, the hypothesis regarding attacks against persons with albinism suggests a different context. Here the purpose is not the transplantation of a functional organ, but the collection of a body part for muti or juju. Although some cases of trafficking of persons with albinism have been reported, in the majority of the cases, the victims are attacked in their homes or while carrying out their ordinary activities, and their body parts hacked off their living or dead bodies at the place of the attack, or close by. In such cases, it cannot be considered that the victims are trafficked, yet their body parts are being harvested, transported and sold.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 78
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation". A similar definition is used in most legislation addressing trafficking in persons.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 66
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- Measures identified can be implemented by integrating them into existing, broader frameworks, including laws and policies to implement the rights of persons with disabilities, on access to health, on the rights of women and children, on access to justice services, on victim support services and to eliminate racial discrimination (including discrimination based on colour). Such measures should be extended to the family members of persons with albinism and, in particular, to mothers of children with albinism and women generally. At the same time, specific measures of protection and anti-discrimination for persons with albinism should also be carried out where possible, particularly in countries affected by attacks against persons with albinism and where neglect of this group has been historical and dire.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 45
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In joint general recommendation No. 31/general comment No. 18, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have provided guidance on what constitutes harmful practices, which are defined as "persistent practices and forms of behaviour that are grounded in discrimination on the basis of, among other things, sex, gender and age, in addition to multiple and/or intersecting forms of discrimination that often involve violence and cause physical and/or psychological harm or suffering".
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 36
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In the report of her mission to Papua New Guinea (A/HRC/23/49/Add.2), the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences stated that she had witnessed brutal assaults perpetrated against suspected sorcerers, which in many cases included torture, rape, mutilation and murder. Similarly, in the report of her mission to India (A/HRC/26/38/Add.1), she explained that the stigma attached to women who were labelled "witches" and the rejection they experienced within their communities led not only to various human rights violations but constituted an obstacle to gaining access to justice. She also noted that such labelling affected family members across generations. Further, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in the report of his mission to Ghana (A/HRC/25/60/Add.1), invited special procedure mandate holders to follow up on practices in "witch camps" where, it was reported, women - particularly elderly women - were banished once they had been labelled as witches.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 52
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Independent Expert looks forward to working closely with all special procedure mandate holders so as to harmonize efforts in addressing the many obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism. She sees close connections between her mandate and those of other special procedures, such as the rights of persons with disabilities; the right to education; the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice; violence against women; contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; and cultural rights. The Independent Expert also intends to work in close cooperation with the mandate holders on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and trafficking in persons, especially women and children.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 48
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- The Independent Expert will pay particular attention to the practices and legal approaches of countries to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism. She envisages wide consultation particularly among persons with albinism on their views on discrimination. She will follow with interest debates on the ways to approach such issues at the national, regional and international levels. The Independent Expert looks forward to working closely with experts at the national, regional and international levels on related issues such as racial discrimination, disabilities, trafficking, health, minority issues, violence against women and children, cultural rights, harmful traditional practices, extrajudicial and summary executions and torture, most of whom have already contributed to the debate surrounding the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 44
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 18
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- In response to the issue, several treaty bodies have called for immediate action to end the attacks. These include the Human Rights Committee, which recommended that affected States strengthen efforts to halt attacks on the physical integrity of persons with albinism, ensure the conduct of timely investigations and strengthen awareness-raising campaigns. Similarly, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Right of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in reiterating the right to life and non-discrimination, have called for immediate action to end such attacks. In their resolutions, the Human Rights Council and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights have also called for immediate action to stop attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Vision for the mandate 2016, para. 15
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- 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. 27
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- 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. 17
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Paragraph text
- There is also the myth that intercourse with female persons with albinism can cure infertility, sexually transmitted infections and, in particular, HIV/AIDS. This has led to the rape and forced prostitution of women and girls with albinism, some of whom end up contracting various infections. Cases have been reported of young girls with albinism being prostituted by their family to customers who thereby expect to be cured of HIV/AIDS. It is believed that cases of this sort are underreported owing to various factors, including a pre-existing context of myth-led discrimination against persons with albinism, the stigma of reporting rape and the likelihood of further abuse. Such lack of reporting is bound to aggravate the already oppressed and disenfranchised situation of women and girls with albinism.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 11
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- 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
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- 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. 9
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- 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. 7
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
25 shown of 25 entities