ABSTRACT

This chapter addresses the rights of persons with albinism, focusing particularly on the United Republic of Tanzania where there has been the highest number of reported attacks on albinos and where news media have reported extensively on human rights violations against them. It focuses on the Tanzanian context, yet there have been over 600 attacks and other human rights violations reported in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Persons with albinism have been gaining international visibility as a group of people vulnerable to human rights abuses; recent efforts have attempted to clearly assert them as human beings entitled to rights who should not be stigmatised as ghosts. Myths that people with albinism can disappear, are cursed or fathered by spirits, or that their condition is contagious function as significant obstacles to their ability to fully participate in society. Media can be an important source of data to better understand the experiences of people with albinism.