For the colour of their skin

TO BE born with albinism is hard luck. This genetic condition, in which people lack pigments in their skin, hair and eyes, affects one in 20,000 worldwide and is more common in Africa. Albinos’ pale skin is easily burned by the sun, and is vulnerable to cancer. Because their eyes are sensitive to harsh light, most albinos suffer from poor vision. However, these discomforts are trivial compared with the mistreatment that albinos often suffer at the hands of others.For centuries people have believed that albinos are cursed. In parts of Africa babies born with albinism were once routinely killed. That ghastly tradition has died out, but others persist. In Swahili many people call albinos (ghost) or (pig). Children with the condition are often bullied at school and forced to eat separately from their peers. Many drop out. Those who complete school struggle to find work and die younger than their neighbours, not least because many end up taking unskilled jobs in the fields where they are exposed to the sun. Women are at higher risk of rape because of a myth that sex with an albino can cure HIV.