ALBINISM IN AFRICA: A PROPOSED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO UNDERSTAND AND EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS A CONTINENTAL CRISIS

Abstract

Across Africa trafficking in albino body parts is far more complicated than mightfirst be assumed, as this activity is merely the end result of a complicated process with origins far removed from the point of sale. The literature in this area tends to focus on either (a) the actual act of procuring and selling body parts; or (b) loosely-related and fairly vague reports of why this process flourishes. There is no extant overarching conceptual framework linking key underlying interrelated vectors that combine to drive severe exploitation of persons with albinism, (for instance, stigma; traditional and other cultural beliefs; the status and impact of authority figures; local, regional and national discrimination; the financial impact and economy of scale in trafficking body parts, and so forth). The absence of such a framework directly hinders proposing or implementing effective solutions, as these solutions are unlikely to succeed if they ignore the highly-symbiotic relationships among the undergirding vectors. Therefore, we propose an initial conceptual framework that unpacks crucial connections among related variables impacting trafficking in albino body parts in Africa, and then use the framework to suggest areas of emphasis to reduce and eliminate the trafficking of these body parts in Africa.