A mother in northern Nigeria is visibly upset as she clutches her two-year-old child, who has burns and discoloured skin on his face and legs.
The 32-year-old used skin-whitening products on all six of her children, under pressure from her family, with results that she now deeply regrets.
Fatima, whose name has been changed to protect her family’s identity, says one of her daughters covers her face whenever she goes out in order to hide her burns.
Another was left with darker skin than before – with a pale circle around her eyes, while a third has whitish scars on her lips and knees.
Her toddler still has weeping wounds – his skin is taking a long time to heal.
“My sister gave birth to light-skinned children but my children are darker skinned. I noticed that my mother favours my sister’s children over mine due to their skin tone and it hurt my feelings a lot,” Fatima says.
She says she used creams she bought at her local supermarket in the city of Kano, without a doctor’s prescription. (BBC)