Vitiligo: 7-year-old Whittier girl helps raise awareness of rare skin condition

WHITTIER, Calif. (KABC) -- Vitiligo is a skin condition that affects about 1% of the world's population and is often misunderstood. Helping to break those stereotypes is Valentina Perez, a 7-year-old Whittier resident.

Comfortable in her own skin, the young advocate is using her voice to tell people all about the rare autoimmune condition.

"It's not contagious and it doesn't itch. It's nothing to be afraid of," said Valentina.

June is Vitiligo Awareness Month and Friday is World Vitiligo Day.

"We belong to a vitiligo community here in Los Angeles," said Cynthia Perez, Valentina's mother. "What we want to do is we just want to build awareness."

Watch the video above for more about the condition and Valentina's efforts.