Abuse and discrimination

Whatever the context of skin decoration and skin adornment, it is usually done in order to make a personal statement. However there are instances when skin marking and/or skin alteration is abusive and detrimental to personal health. For example, the tattooing of numbers onto the arms of prisoners in concentration camps was designed to dehumanise and depersonalise people. Individuals became a number rather than a name. Female genital mutilation is another example of a practice which is abusive. Whilst some people within cultural groups accept the practice as part of becoming a woman, it is widely condemned as an abusive, dangerous and unnecessary practice.

The course of human history is littered with tragedies of discriminatory behaviour brought on by false judgements made because of the colour of the skin. Discriminatory behaviour due to skin colour is now illegal in many parts of the world and the last 20 years have witnessed massively significant events in the quest for racial equality. The ending of apartheid in South Africa and the election of an African American as President of the United States of America are two examples of this. But discriminatory behaviour because of skin colour does still exist. A recent Health Care Commission highlighted that many Trust institutions within the British National Health Service were still not meeting their obligations as equal opportunities employers. It states that although ethnic minority groups make up 16% of the workforce only 10% are in senior management positions and 1% in a chief executive position (Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection, 2009).

For one group of people racism, ignorance and misunderstanding because of the colour of their skin, remains life threatening. There are a significant number of people living with albinism in East Africa. Albinism is a genetically inherited condition where the pigment of the skin, hair and eyes is either reduced or missing altogether. Whilst albinism does occur in the Caucasian population, it is more prevalent and more noticeable in black Americans. Some estimates put the number of those with albinism at 1 in 4000 in Tanzania, whilst the figures for the European population is more like 1 in 20,000 (Smith, 2008). Life for an African with albinism is curtailed due to hugely increased risk of skin cancer; however recent urbanisation of the population has led to an increase in murder and mutilation. It is thought that possessing a body part of someone who has albinism acts as a magic charm, which can lead to instant wealth (Smith, 2008).