Discrimination and violence against Tanzanians with albinism in the Great Lakes region: crime and national shame (original) (raw)
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This article discusses the coverage and portrayal of violent attacks against people with albinism, in Swahili and English news media in Tanzania between 2008 and 2012. Violence in the Great Lakes district of East and Central Africa surrounding Lake Victoria appears to be driven by traditional ‘witchdoctors’ and carried out by contract killers to meet a market for albino body parts, in a context of superstitious beliefs about albinism, economic inequity and continued poverty. A content analysis revealed that media coverage of the violent attacks was most commonly framed in terms of criminal activity and shameful cultural practices—reflecting sourcing from court and police reports and politicians’ statements—but also as a socio-economic phenomenon and an issue of human rights. These interpretative frames highlight the complexity of the violence, the debate over its causes, and the need for multiple levels of solution. Although the violent attacks are seen as shameful, Tanzanian media provides public space for people to debate and shape knowledge about the impact of cultural and economic development on disadvantaged persons with albinism. This article commends the value of further interdisciplinary and international research to understand and respond to similar phenomena affecting vulnerable groups throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Media Analysis of Albino Killings in Tanzania: A Social Work and Human Rights Perspective
Murders of people with albinism are a recently emerging human rights issue in Africa, particularly Tanzania. Thus far, public debates about albino killings in Tanzania and other African countries have been dominated by media reports rather than academic writing. This paper present the findings of a content analysis of Swahili and English Tanzanian media reports published between 2008 and 2011 on albinism and albino murders in Tanzania, and the diverse activities that have unfolded in response to these attacks. Using a human rights framework, the article explores these responses from a social work perspective. It finds that interventions are often framed with reference to African conceptions of humanness. These conceptions are found to be compatible with notions of human rights as relational, in which the various rights and responsibilities of different members of society are seen as interconnected. In practice however, some interventions have resulted in trade-offs between competing rights, causing further harm to victims and their families. To become sustainable therefore, interventions should aim to support all the human rights necessary for the well-being of Africans with albinism, their families and communities. Further research to this effect is recommended.
Malawi has experienced a boom in radio and television stations, newspapers, online media, and a democratic dispensation has been put in place, but reporting of human rights abuses in the country is unsatisfactory. One of the most pressing issues at the moment in the country is the killing, maiming, abduction and disappearance of persons with albinism. Persons with albinism face discrimination and stigma based on false beliefs. A content analysis of Malawian newspaper articles on the attacks on persons with albinism suggests that reporting is largely specific, reactive and superficial. The articles from the Times Media Group and Nation Publications Limited published between 2016 and 2018, seem not to aim at demystifying the issue of albinism as a mere disability, and the press portray persons with albinism as helpless victims of voodoo. There is hardly any framing of articles to show positive contributions or normalcy of persons with albinism. The Malawian newspapers should highlight their achievements and portray them as more than mere victims. Additionally, there is a role for investigative journalism to help in tracking buyers of body parts of persons with albinism. Better reporting of violations would ultimately help raise human rights standards in Malawi and Africa as a whole.
AM Rivista della Società Italiana di Antropologia Medica/ Journal of the Italian Society for Medical Anthropology, 2020
After the spread of media news about the attacks against people with albinism in Tanzania, humanitarian activism and media debates have accelerated the emergence and production of discourses about people with the condition in the country. Victimhood,deservingness and equivalence of albinism with disability represent three of the most recurring media and humanitarian narratives. Based on data collected over 19 months of fieldwork in Tanzania, the present article explores how discourses and ideas about albinism have circulated among and been reformulated by people with albinism to deconstruct shared conceptions of normalcy and affirm their agency in the Tanzanian public arena. The ethnographic material shows in which multiple ways the intertwinement of global actions and everyday practices related to albinism have strengthened already-existing political subjectivities, (re)shaped political claims, and articulated ideas of (dis)belonging.
Journal for the Study of Religion
Albinism, an inherited condition from birth as a result of the lack of melanin pigment which usually changes the colour of the skin, hair and eyes, is usually greeted with resentment in most African communities. In Ghana, some communities and families consider it a misfortune to give birth to Albinos and hence, attempts are made to either kill them at birth or banish them from the community. They are constantly abused and ridiculed by the public with derogatory names and social tags that serve as a form of stigmatization. Evidently, it is clear that the discrimination against albinos in Ghana are underlain by religious and cultural beliefs. This article takes into perspective how religious beliefs and cultural values contribute to the plight of albinos in Ghana and further, discusses how the inculturation of human rights can help mitigate the violence that is perpetrated against persons with albinism.
Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, 2019
The mythology of most African societies includes the belief in patriarchy and primogeniture, holding the view that succession and the continuity of family lineage are only possible through the males. As such, women are considered inferior to men and often treated with prejudice. Albinism is also treated with prejudice in African societies. This includes the belief that sexual intercourse with a woman or a girl with albinism can cure serious infections like HIV/AIDS. Thus, in addition to common forms of discrimination and abuse suffered by women in Sub-Saharan Africa, those with albinism are particularly vulnerable to rape and sexual violation. In extreme cases, especially in East and Central Africa; these women and other persons with albinism are kidnapped for sacrifice or ritual purposes. Their vital organs are harvested for preparing Bcharms^for magic and spiritual powers. In other cases, they are simply murdered to ensure that they do not procreate. This paper explores common myth-based violations against women with albinism in Africa. It argues that these women suffer the tragedy of double prejudice and special violations to dignity and life, contrary to standard templates of international human rights. It then suggests specific measures for dealing with these violations at all levels: societal, municipal, regional, and international. Significantly, the paper raises global consciousness on the persecution of minorities, especially women and girls with albinism in Africa.
Labeling albinism: language and discourse surrounding people with albinism in Tanzania
Disability and Society, 2015
This article is based on a qualitative study that set out to analyze the labels and terms attached to 28 people affected by albinism in villages in Kilolo district, Tanzania. Even though national and international attention to killings of people with albinism has attempted to improve general knowledge of albinism and reduce discrimination, most of the community members within the study had little knowledge of the (bio)medical explanations for albinism and tended to marginalize people with albinism. Framed within a wider moral discourse on illness, disability and socially appropriate behavior, albinism is mostly considered to be God’s will or the consequence of past misdeeds within the family, and many of the existing labels for people with albinism express such ideas.
We Are Human, Just Like You: Albinism in Malawi -Implications for Security
Journal of Humanities, 2021
The plight of people with albinism in Malawi has received little attention, despite evidence of increasing attacks on people with albinism for their body parts for use in rituals in recent years. While a recent spate of attacks on people with albinism in late 2020 and early 2021 has drawn the attention of international organizations, relative inaction on the part of the authorities places the security of people with albinism in Malawi firmly in their own hands, and those of their families and communities. This article draws on the findings of participatory research undertaken between 2015 and 2019 to explore context-specific knowledge about the security of people with albinism in Malawi and to reveal perceptions of what makes people with albinism secure or insecure. It traces the roots of these attacks in the beliefs associated with albinism and other disabilities, the various threats to people with albinism in Malawi, and responses put in place at different levels of society to ensure their personal security. Framed in relation to critical work in the field of human security, our findings underscore the importance of changing societal attitudes and developing a coordinated collaborative response to bring about effective and lasting change.
Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 2020
It cannot be denied that myths and superstitions have endured through history and that people have been affected by them since the beginning of time. Superstitious beliefs and myths that result in the victimization of persons with albinism (PWA) are centuries old, are present in cultural attitudes and practised around the world. In Africa and in Tanzania in particular, PWAs have also been targeted because of harmful speculation and unfounded myths which place their lives at risk. As members of society PWA have human rights that need to be protected against any kind of violation, particularly against being killed, tortured and discriminated against. This article analyses various legal provisions that protect the rights of PWA as articulated in various UN covenants and conventions as well as regional treaties and national laws. Secondary data are consulted to examine the extent of the erroneous beliefs which heavily fuel the persecution and killing of PWA. It is found that there are deep-seated myths, superstitions and harmful cultural beliefs the existence of which seems to pose a serious obstacle to the implementation of the law and the protection of the rights of PWA in Tanzania. The article recommends awareness-raising and education in general for Tanzanian society as an approach towards the protection of PWA.