The Brazilian Senate, alongside with Chamber of Deputies, is
responsible for discuss and approve bills, which become laws. For this reason,
the major part of its campaigns is based on the divulgation of the laws and its
impacts in people’s lives. Rather than simply justify the existence of Senate
or provide accountability for its activities, these campaigns are a way to
increase the awareness of people about the legislation and empower them to
exercise their rights.
In this sense, it seems fair to say that campaigns as “The treatment of breast cancer doesn’t need to leave this mark” – that is currently being
promoted by Federal Senate of Brazil – is a way to empower women with breast
cancer. By informing them about their right to have plastic surgery after the
mastectomy, the campaign allows the patients to decide if they want to use the
law in their benefit or not.
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| The treatment of breast cancer doesn’t need to leave this mark |
Issues as prejudice and low self-esteem are among the several challenges
that are faced by those who fight against breast cancer (Breast Cancer Care, 2014). After all, the
physical mutilation may jeopardise the treatment, since it affects
psychologically and emotionally the patients. If, on the one hand, the law itself
may be not enough to guarantee the expected results, on the other hand, the
knowledge about its existence may mobilize women with cancer to demand their
rights.
Hence, it is possible to say that this campaign uses a right-based
approach. According to this theory of change, “people should be informed of
their rights and empowered to exercise them” (Krznaric, 2007). This approach
considers that a social change occurs when people are able to satisfy their
needs by claiming their rights. This approach also emphasizes the cumulative
effect of this process, considering that insofar people are more aware of their
rights, more able they are to make legitimate claims to the state (Krznaric,
2007).
Nevertheless, in order to promote real social change, this campaign
need to reach as much potential beneficiaries of the law as possible. Currently
the campaign is based mainly in the Federal Senate broadcast system
(constituted by a TV channel, a radio station and a news paper, whose audiences
are not really representative) and its pages on social media and Internet. The
campaign is also being published in other media thanks to the collaboration of
organisations of the civil society. Despite all this effort, considering that
Brazil is a big and heterogeneous country, the coverage of the campaign is
still far away from the ideal. Therefore, the increase of the number of
partners of the campaign and the improvement of the media strategy should be
taken into consideration in order to amplify its audience.
Reference:
Breast Cancer Care (2014). Available at <http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk>. Accessed in 25/11/2014
Krznaric, R. (2007). How Change Happens: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Human Development. Oxfam GB Research Report.
Krznaric, R. (2007). How Change Happens: Interdisciplinary Perspectives for Human Development. Oxfam GB Research Report.
I wonder why this campaign is needed.. Don't hospitals inform their patients about this? As good as it is to inform the broad public about their rights, a first step might be targeting hospitals and support groups etc in order to try and implement it as standard procedure and well informed 'grassroots'. That way there would be a natural cumulative effect. If this concerns women who had their surgery before the law came into place, perhaps the second step would be going public with a campaign like this but as you say perhaps with a different strategy.
ReplyDeleteHi, Susanna! Thank you for your comment! Some public hospitals in Brazil don’t have enough structure to proceed according to the law. The deficiencies range from lack of surgery rooms to lack of qualified doctors (specialized in breast reconstruction). Therefore, the law is not being respected. If the patients are informed about their rights, they may demand that the authorities solve the problem.
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