Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Women, Mothers of Children with Albinism Suffer Worst Discrimination, Report
Finds

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Women with albinism themselves, and those whose
   children have the condition, suffer undue discrimination and
   stigmatization, a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council concludes.

   Ikponwosa Ero, a Nigerian activist who is herself an albino, became the
   human rights council's first independent expert on the enjoyment of
   human rights by persons with Albinism in 2015. She has done much to
   eliminate pernicious myths surrounding albinism. Her new report
   describes excessive abuse and discrimination women with albinism or
   whose children have albinism suffer because of their gender.

   She said women are abandoned by their families. Mothers of children
   with albinism are blamed for their condition and often banished from
   their communities. She said women with albinism are physically attacked
   and accused of witchcraft. She said they suffer sexual violence on
   various grounds, including the belief that such intercourse can cure
   HIV/AIDS.

.