Witchcraft accusations in Ghana could be banned by new law
Accra, Ghana Reuters Ghana’s parliament on Friday passed a bill to protect people accused of witchcraft, making it a crime to abuse them or send them away from communities. Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo delivers his annual state of the nation address to the parliament in Accra, Ghana, on 30th March, 2022. PICTURE: Reuters/Francis Kokoroko/File photo […]
Witchcraft beliefs blamed for halting drive to end FGM in Guinea
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Belief in witchcraft is hampering efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation in Guinea where almost all girls are cut, campaigners said on Tuesday. Aminata Bah, who underwent FGM at the age of five, said many people in the West African country believed traditional circumcisers had supernatural powers and girls feared being […]
Spotlight gives hope to Africa’s hunted albinos
Thomson Reuters Foundation Increased funding and awareness campaigns are helping to slow the rates of violence against people with albinism in Africa, according to officials and campaigners. In some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, people with albinism – a lack of pigmentation in the skin, hair and eyes – are attacked for their body parts which […]
DISABILITY: OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND – ZIMBABWE LOCKS UP ITS DISABLED
JEFFREY MOYO, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on the plight of the disabled in the southern African nation of Zimbabwe…
People with albinism protest in Malawi as attacks spike ahead of polls
Thomson Reuters Foundation Protesters took to the streets in Malawi’s capital on Wednesday to demand the government step up protection for people with albinism following a spate of murders and attacks driven by an underground trade in their body parts for black magic. The march comes amid fears that people with albinism could be at […]
Malawians with albinism to fight elections in bid to stop killings
Thomson Reuters Foundation Six people with albinism are to contest elections in Malawi next year in a bid to tackle widespread stigma and halt relentless attacks fuelled by a trade in their body parts for witchcraft. Overstone Kondowe, head of the Association of People with Albinism in Malawi (APAM), said it was vital to get […]