‘Groundbreaking’ was the word chosen, by both Marta Santos Pais (UN Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children) and Kate Gilmore (Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights), to describe the UN Workshop on Witchcraft and Human Rights held in Geneva in late September and attended by Standing Voice’s Sam Clarke. While a UN workshop on witchcraft and human rights might not sound so groundbreaking, the event was notable for being, in the words of Gary Foxcroft (director of the Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network who co-organised the event), “the first time the UN has properly recognised the scale of the problem and the need to bring together experts from across the world to identify all the challenges and solutions.”
In her opening remarks, Kate Gilmore underscored the importance of placing the voices of those who bear the weight of institutional failure at the centre of our efforts. One such voice in Geneva was that of Mariamu Staford. In 2008, Mariamu was attacked when a gang broke into her home at night while her son slept beside her. She lost both her hands to a machete.
Mariamu’s story shows the multitude of injustices suffered by people with albinism, manifested not only in physical violence perpetrated against them, but also within the institutions which should protect them. When she arrived in hospital, doctors feared her and were reticent to give her the help she desperately needed. Mariamu recognised one of her assailants. She knew him well; he had been her neighbour for ten years, and a close friend to her and her family. He was taken to court, but later walked free after a judge deemed that Mariamu’s poor eyesight (often associated with albinism) prevented her from reliably identifying the perpetrator.
Today, with the help of prosthetic arms, Mariamu weaves scarves and sweaters. While she feels empowered by her activity, she stresses that more must be done. In particular, she is concerned at the predicament of children, who must either confine themselves to safe houses, seperated from their families, or live in fear in their home villages.
In his address, Sam elaborated on this theme. While acknowledging the barbaric nature of witchcraft-motivated attacks, he emphasised the importance of looking at such acts in their societal context. Indeed, deeply held and structurally embedded beliefs allow for the persistent dehumanisation of people with albinism in Tanzania. This dehumanisation, reproduced by individuals and through institutions, helps make violence against people with albinism possible. It is important that these beliefs are tackled, and not just their most extreme manifestations.
Sam explained the ways in which Standing Voice and others can tackle the social conditions that allow dangerous beliefs to flourish. Sam imparted three key recommendations. Firstly, he called for a holistic approach to the violence facing people with albinism, one that challenges harmful beliefs and explores the full process of socialisation that precipitates violence. Secondly, he urged attendees to focus their interventions on mainstream institutions and structures, where the impact of advocacy can be felt most widely. Where societies can be sensitized, they become caring societies. When societies care, they become more alert and ultimately more secure for people with albinism. Finally, Sam reiterated Standing Voice’s commitment to participatory advocacy by calling on others to tailor training and sensitisation programmes to be interactions rather than one-way instructions. This, he argued, allows stakeholders to own the advocacy and reproduce it themselves, engendering long-term change.
The conference was an important step in bringing the issue of witchcraft and human rights into the mainstream UN human rights system. By 2019, the organisers hope to see a UN Special Resolution for the UN Human Rights Council to recognise the scale of the issue, and publish guidelines for tackling these problems by 2021. The conference also established an academic action group, to coordinate relevant research. Other concrete measures identified include a review into relevant laws, collaborating with and monitoring the work of traditional healers, prohibiting newspaper advertisements of witchcraft practitioners and regulating independent faith-based practices.
The workshop in Geneva is the latest mobilisation of a wider, and growing, movement. In 2015, Ikponwosa Ero became the first UN Independent Expert tasked with monitoring the human rights situation of persons with albinism. In 2016, Standing Voice, in partnership with the World Bank and Ikponwosa, coordinated Action on Albinism in Africa, a forum attended by representatives from 29 African countries and a plethora of disciplinary fields. The forum established a roadmap to prevent violence and discrimination, protect persons with albinism, and determine accountability. From the forum stemmed a new UN Albinism Think Tank, to which Standing Voice was elected to contribute its expertise. Not long after the Think Tank’s inaugural meeting, an albinism conference and high-level stakeholder meeting was hosted by the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Together, these events have imbued the work of Standing Voice and its partners with vigour, optimism, and hope. As the Witchcraft and Human Rights Information Network wrote following the summit in Geneva, “after many years of working away on these issues it feels like momentum is finally starting to gather.”
Listen to Sam's speech in full below:
Standing Voice extends its deepest gratitude to all participants in the Experts' Workshop on Witchcraft and Human Rights, and to its organisers. Particular thanks to lead organisers Ikponwosa Ero (the United Nations Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism), Gary Foxcroft (Director of the Witchcraft and Human Rights Network [WHRIN]), Dr Charlotte Baker (Lancaster University); supported by co-organisers including the SRSG on Violence Against Children, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, and others. Thanks also to sponsors: the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Under the Same Sun, Lancaster University, WHRIN, Permanent Missions of the United Kingdom to the UN in Geneva and the Permanent Mission of Sierra Leone to the UN in Geneva.
© 2026 Standing Voice
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