The face equality charity trying to challenge what's deemed a 'scary' costume this Halloween
By Lily Ford, ITV News Multimedia Producer
Halloween is often the chance to dress up as your favourite characters - from Disney princesses and pop culture icons to animals and memes.
You might also consider a gorier get-up like a zombie, monster, or corpse.
But UK-based charity Face Equality International (FEI) is issuing a message to those donning costumes this year - to be more conscious of what you deem "scary".
FEI have an international membership and work with 37 organisations across the world to campaign against the stigma and discrimination experienced by people with facial marks, scars, and other conditions.
This includes something congenital, like a condition someone is born with, marks that are acquired through trauma or illness, or even a skin condition such as acne or psoriasis.
ITV News spoke with FEI CEO Phyllida Swift about what the charity is trying to achieve this Halloween.
Why is it important to raise awareness of facial differences around Halloween?
"The act of putting on scars in itself may seem innocuous, but what is particularly problematic about both Halloween and also films that use facial differences is it's used to evoke that fear factor - the sense that a person is scary, or immoral," Ms Swift said.
"All too often, the villain in a film is someone with a facial difference, and you're told not to trust that person.
"And we know that there is a distinction between guts and gore, which of course make people squeamish.
"But when it's someone's actual face, their real lived experience, we can't take that off at the end of the night.
"It is not simply a costume for us."
What repercussions come from people using facial differences as Halloween costumes?
"Young people are being told that we are scary, that we shouldn't be trusted," Ms Swift continued.
She has facial scarring herself from a car accident, and explained that children have told her they think her face is "scary".
"Or I've had people on Halloween asking me whether my face is prosthetics, and I have to say no.
"So it's actually that kind of lasting impact from donning a facial difference for Halloween.
Ms Swift adds that it's often young people facing bullying on the playground for facial differences.
"They're literally called the Joker, Freddy Krueger, they're referred to as these characters.
"It's not make-believe, it's not just a story, this has a real life impact."
What impact might the stigma have beyond Halloween?
There's a lack of understanding around facial differences, Ms Swift says, which is actually legally regarded as a disability in the UK and the US.
It goes beyond the spooky time of year - it's an equality and human rights issue, too.
"There are children across the world that are being abandoned, hidden away for being born with a facial difference... People don't quite understand yet that this is an equality issue.
"We often get met with some negative responses on social media such as, 'Gosh, what next?', 'Oh, I'm ugly, give me more rights,' or 'You're just all snowflakes.'
"So we know that people aren't yet regarding this as a marginalised community deserving of rights and protections and respect.
"And we do know that we have a long way to go."
What needs to be done?
"So much of the costume-wearing is innocent and we don't quite understand the impact it's having," Ms Swift tells ITV News.
"So it's about, first off, being aware of it. Going and listening to the stories of people with a variety of different appearances because we all live in a world where there is such pressure to look a certain way and to fit into that very, very narrow perception of what is beautiful.
"So being aware of those kind of those biases or those negative depictions of people on screen or during the festivities of Halloween.
"Going and seeking out voices of this community and engaging in the face equality movement."
The charity has recently directly called out Hollywood, through a Position Paper, on its perpetuation of associating facial differences with a "bad" or villain-type character, but are yet to receive a response from the industry.
The Mother, starring and produced by Jennifer Lopez, is a recent example of a film released only this year where the antagonist (played by Joseph Fiennes) was depicted with a scar on his face.
"It was such a kick in the teeth," Ms Swift added.
The work of FEI continues with the help of high-profile names such as Adam Pearson, a British actor with neurofibromatosis, and Jono Lancaster, an activist born with the rare genetic condition Treacher Collins Syndrome.
The charity was founded by Dr James Partridge, a burns survivor and chief executive of fellow cause Changing Faces UK.
To find out more about the work of Face Equality International, head to their website or Instagram.
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