Summaries : gender and tobacco research projects in Brazil
Date
2010
Authors
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Publisher
HealthBridge Foundation of Canada, Ottawa, ON, CA
Abstract
This research output is an executive summary of 6 Portuguese-language
policy-relevant research studies undertaken in Brazil by Brazilian women's
organizations. Each study addressed a knowledge gap in gender and tobacco
within the Brazilian context, including related to women tobacco growers,
vulnerable women smokers, female young offenders, incorporating tobacco
into the women's agenda, and tobacco advertising and packaging that
targets female youth. Each research team used a methodology that was
appropriate to the study being undertaken. The major findings include the
following: (i) Women tobacco farmers' low literacy rates and working
conditions that violate their human rights highlight the urgency of
fo rmulating multi-sectoral public policies that target and reach tobacco
growers; (ii) smoking impacts negatively on women's health, quality of life,
social relations, and results in emotional, productive and economic damage;
(iii) among female youth offenders, the decision to become a smoker was
based in large part on an image of "independence" and of a need to belong
to a social group; (iv) to engage women's organizations in tobacco control,
the tobacco control community must enable them to develop their own
intervention programmes, with content and language appropriate to the
women's movement; and (v) an effective and efficient anti-smoking
campaign for youth should make the threats and effects of smoking more
clearly vis ib le in their daily lives, through better advertising and packagi ng
regulations. The primary impacts of this research have been the
development of recommendations about how to approach tobacco issues
with women's organizations and about integrating tobacco control into the
feminist agenda. The expected longer-term impact of the research results is
a greater awareness of, and support for, gender-sensitive tobacco control
policies.
Description
Original report authors: Fernanda Castro Fernandes, Genero, Mulher, Desenvolvimento e A,ao, Instituto Terra, Trabalho e Cidadania, Rede Feminista de Saude, Women's Observatory, and Coletivo Feministax
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IDRC-Related Report
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Keywords
GENDER, WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS, TOBACCO CONTROL, BRAZIL, SMALL RESEARCH GRANTS, CAPACITY BUILDING, LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN, WOMEN'S HEALTH