A/HRC/37/57 social life, rejection by families and isolation, leading to depression and mental illness. 47 In Kuwait, for instance, persons with albinism face psychological and social challenges, although they benefit from health care and are not the subject of superstitious beliefs. 48 50. In Brazil, a study found that the quality of life of persons with albinism is not only affected by poor vision and skin lesions, but also by social stigmatization. Similarly, in South Africa, research highlights that “it is often the negative response to albinism by others that is more hurtful, especially to children, than having to cope with the condition itself”. 49 In Côte d’Ivoire, persons with albinism bear testament to the fact that discrimination and exclusion lead to the loss of self-esteem, isolation, sleep disorders and attempted suicide.50 51. In Ondo State in Nigeria, a study found that elderly people with albinism experienced several psychosocial problems, such as harassment, abandonment, neglect, withdrawal, isolation, rejection, divorce, labelling, stigmatization, suspicion, frustration and limited opportunities.51 52. The oppressiveness of isolation has been observed in Pakistan, where persons with albinism felt different, abnormal, abandoned and helpless, as they were excluded from health care and services. 52 In Zimbabwe, “The Zimbabwe Albino Society maintains that many families keep children with albinism hidden at home, not sending them to school because of the associated stigma and bullying from both children and adults. Consequently, self-esteem is extremely low in children with albinism.”53 53. Another negative impact on mental health is caused by the aggravated discrimination of those subject to the stigmatization triggered by the appearance of skin cancer lesions on persons with albinism, which, in several countries, are mistakenly perceived to be a natural part of albinism. 54 Indeed, the “skin, being the largest organ in the body, carries immense psychological significance”.55 Therefore, “disfiguring skin disorders … may negatively distort a patient’s body image”.56 54. Furthermore, such stigmatization may have far-reaching psychopathological consequences, such as self-exclusion from services, alienation and social withdrawal, loss of identity, poor self-image, depression and anxiety.57 With regard to self-exclusion, this has been observed even in institutions of higher education. A study on the beliefs and stereotypes concerning albinism at a South African university found that “students with albinism tend[ed] to exclude themselves from the rest of the student community to avoid discrimination and stereotypes around their condition”.58 55. Social isolation strategies often have negative psychological consequences, such as depression and anxiety. Such an impact also derives from perceived stigmatization, which “relates to feelings of shame and the oppressive fear of enacted stigma and predisposes the 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 12 Submissions of Portail des Droits des Personnes Handicapées en Afrique de l’Ouest, Connexion Worldwide and the Rwanda Albinism Society. Submission of Kuwait. P.M. Lund, “Oculocutaneous albinism in southern Africa”, pp. 170–171. Submission of Association Ivoirienne pour la Promotion des Femmes Albinos. Awoniyi Babafemi Adeyanju, Omisakin Folorunso Dipo and Alao Moses Taiye, “Health and psychosocial complaints of elderly albinos in Ondo State, Nigeria”, Indian Journal of Gerontology, vol. 29, No. 3 (2015), pp. 364–381. Azam Jah Samdani and Bahram Khan Khoso, “A unique albino village of Bhatti tribe in rural Sindh, Pakistan, with oculocutaneous albinism manifestations: an epidemiological study”. J.S. Taylor and P.M. Lund, “Experiences of a feasibility study of children with albinism in Zimbabwe: a discussion paper”, p. 1250. See A/HRC/31/63, para. 39. Chukwuma M. Attama and others, “Quality of life of subjects with leprosy and albinism”, International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal, vol. 6, No. 4 (2016), pp. 1–6. Ibid., abstract. Relebohile Phatoli, Nontembeko Bila and Eleanor Ross, “Being black in a white skin: beliefs and stereotypes around albinism at a South African university”, African Journal of Disability, vol. 4, No. 1 (2016). Ibid., p. 9.