Women Human Rights Defenders: A Case of Activism of Mothers of Children with Albinism in Tanzania

Human rights activism is often undertaken by human rights defenders (OHCHR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights], Who is a defender. https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/srhrdefenders/pages/defender.aspx , 2020). The most obvious human rights defenders are those working in organizations dedicated to human rights. It is neither the role nor institution that determines if one is a human rights activist or defender but rather the “human rights character of the work undertaken” (OHCHR, Who is a defender. https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/srhrdefenders/pages/defender.aspx , 2020, para. 18). The activism carried out by the network of women impacted by albinism in Tanzania, consisting of women with albinism and mothers of children with albinism – the latter being the primary subject of this chapter – bears the hallmark of human rights. The Mamas’ Groups, as they are commonly known, work and live in rural conditions with many of them being illiterate. The mothers, as the data will demonstrate, have undertaken human rights work in the advancement of both their rights and those of their children.