A/HRC/43/42 A. Albinism: related issues disproportionately affecting women 17. Albinism is a condition that can affect individuals and their families medically, socially and psychologically. For some, the social and psychological issues may be more of a burden than the actual medical complaints. 14 Based on available reports and the submissions received, it is safe to conclude that the weight of global suffering surrounding albinism is disproportionately borne by women with albinism and mothers of children with albinism. 18. The elements described below were identified in stakeholder submissions from East, West, South and Central Africa. Submissions from other regions also referred to a number of these issues, even in situations that did not relate to violence or attacks. 19. Blame and abandonment after having a child with albinism: This often entails a significant lack of awareness of how albinism occurs and the fact that it is a genetic condition inherited from both parents. Consequently, the lack of understanding of the condition has a detrimental impact on parents of children with albinism, with a disproportionate impact on the mother. The mother is often blamed for causing the pale colouring of a child with albinism. She is often accused of infidelity or of having a curse that is manifested in the child’s appearance. As a result, mothers are often abandoned by their partners or spouses on the grounds that they have been unfaithful, given the child’s different skin colour. Isolation and expulsion from the community is also commonplace due to the belief that the child with albinism is a curse on the community. Self-removal from the community by mothers of children with albinism also takes place in some cases to avoid hostility and exclusion from community members. 20. Poverty: Due to abandonment by their spouses or partner upon the birth of the child with albinism, and the ensuing situation of being a single parent, mothers of children with albinism often face abject poverty. This exposes the child with albinism to continuous poverty, especially as the child is generally unable to receive a proper education or, thereafter, opportunities for gainful employment. 21. Health risk: Due to a general lack of education with a view to obtaining adequate work, including indoor employment, women and girls with albinism often take on various types of menial work outdoors. Long-term work outdoors in the sun results in a high risk of contracting skin cancer. Moreover, hypervisibility and constant discrimination in nearly all spheres of their life often mean that women and children with albinism are at a high risk of facing psychosocial challenges that often negatively impact their social relationships and aggravate their social exclusion. 22. Sexual violence: Women with albinism are often targets of sexual violence. This is frequently due to fetishes, myths and misbeliefs that result in rape and sexual assaults. In some countries, it is also due to the prevalent myths that sexual intercourse with women with albinism can cure HIV and can confer good luck. These myths continuously expose these women to violence and increase their vulnerability to unwanted pregnancies and to contracting various sexually transmitted infections. 23. Heightened vulnerability to attacks: In places where attacks against persons with albinism have been reported, poverty, expulsion and isolation often leave the mother and her child with albinism vulnerable to attacks. A significant number of attacks tend to happen against those who have been removed or isolated from the community and against the poorest families of children with albinism. In this context, poverty can also mean that women are unable to afford safe and secure housing, which is a necessary protection against attacks. 24. Victims of impunity: Women have been recognized by both the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child as being particularly at risk in conflict and disasters and affected by violence more frequently and severely than others, often falling victim to 14 See, for example, Esther S. Hong, Hajo Zeed and Michael H. Repacholi, “Albinism in Africa as a public health issue”, BMC Public Health, vol. 6 (2006). 5