On February 11, 2020, Ikponwosa Ero, United Nations Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism is the featured Guest Speaker, alongside a panel of researchers in albinism and gender studies, at the Gender, Albinism & Human Rights Café hosted by Trinity Western University, School of Nursing, Gender Studies Institute, Centre for equity global engagement, and Mothering & Albinism at Trinity Western University, Langley Campus. Ero, as a person with albinism, is a Human Rights lawyer who has been a strong voice and advocate for persons with Albinism globally. Since taking her post as the UN Independent Expert, she has travelled globally to bring the plight of persons with albinism to the attention of various stakeholders and community leaders. Ero has emphasized human rights violations, in terms of various forms of violence, colourism, discrimination and stigmatization that impact the lived experience of persons with albinism. Ero served as the international advocacy and legal officer for Under the Same Sun (UTSS) in Canada and Tanzania. She continues to be influential in the writing and adoption of several international human rights resolutions on albinism, including at the Human Rights Council, at the General Assembly, and the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights.
For the past four years, Ero has partnered with a global, multi-disciplinary research team lead by Dr. Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham and Dr. Barbara Astle, coordinated by Emma Strobell, RN, from Trinity Western University, School of Nursing. The program of research is focused on advancing research related to human rights and persons with albinism. The current aim is to highlight the gendered nature of albinism, in support of an aspect of Ero’s UN mandate.
Women and girls in parts of Africa are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations as a result of social constructions of gender that enable multiple and intersecting forms of stigma, discrimination, violence, and inequity.
The café discussion will center around this very issue. Please join us for this event in-person or follow us on Facebook Live.
If you missed this event, we invite you to watch the Facebook Live recording here: https://www.facebook.com/2166090023702231/videos/699713620844635
Mothering & Albinism 