Violence Against Disabled Children Deprives them of a Childhood

I remember back in the days when I used to go play outside. Not just outside our house, but outside our neighborhood. I had many friends and life was fun. No one was afraid of going out and play. Parents were confident that their children were safe out there. And for that, we were left to be the little explorers that we needed to be. There were boundaries of course, there were curfews of course, but we had more freedom than our children today (sigh).

Just a couple of weeks ago I was chatting with my friends, remembering old times, etc, etc, etc. Then we looked at our children and the life we have created for them. The life society has created for them. The life filled with fear; fear of being kidnapped, trafficked, raped and even killed. Then we started talking about the killings of people with albinism around some African countries (including ours). We thought of the children who have been mutilated, slaughtered…killed…and the children who witnessed such violence against their family members/neighbors/friends. We thought of children who are in hiding because of violence against people with albinism. Children who were supposed to go to school, play, explore their world. How society is creating social barriers, that further excludes children with albinism from participating. It is saddening to see that instead of improving the already non-conducive-disabling-environment, we are making it worse. We have reached a point where one would easily and fearlessly slaughter a child…a disabled child…. a child with albinism, for their own personal gain. And disappear without a trace.

Parents of impaired children worry about how their child is treated by the society surrounding them. Will they be bullied, excluded and discriminated against? Will they be pitied because of their impairment? As a parent it is difficult to allow your child to go to school, to allow your child to play, to allow your child to just be a child, to walk the streets with your child, simply because they have albinism and you fear they might be the next victim. Have we reached a point where it is okay to strip a child of their childhood because of fear? What happened to the rights of a child? What happened to the rights of the impaired….the disabled

Most African countries in an effort to protect the rights of the child and the rights of persons with disabilities ratified and signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (African countries) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. Several policies and Laws that protect the rights of children, as well as the rights of people with disabilities, have also been in various African nations. All these are commendable efforts. But is introducing and ratifying Policies, Laws and UN conventions enough? How do we ensure that we adhere to these National and International Instruments? How are these instruments implemented? How do we protect the rights of the child and disabled persons? For some time now we have heard about the killings of people with albinism. What has been done? How has ratifying International convection(s) helped us to stop such evils?

I have heard that people with Albinism are being slaughtered because of witchcraft, and/or ignorance. But I believe that they are being slaughtered because we have turned a blind eye to the villains. I again wonder if such villains would have disappeared easily if the victim was a child, sibling, spouse, or parent of someone of high caliber in the Government. How can we make children with Albinism feel safe and secure in their own societies?

The Africa that I envision is a continent where children and childhood matters, a place where all children enjoy their childhood and are not seen as ‘passive beings awaiting to become adults’. A place where those with impairments are not seen as Persons with Disabilities but Persons with Abilities because the social-environment support their limited capacities and empowers them, a place where we do not live with the fear of being slaughtered for witchcraft purposes!

Today it is those with albinism that are being killed, someday it will be anyone with any impairment. Then it will be anyone.

So, let us not keep a blind eye to such evils. Let us not be quiet. Let us voice up for the voiceless. Let us unveil the perpetrators. Let us put an end to the killing of albinos.

Esl