Jan 17, 2025 Story by: Editor
When Dawn Butler was diagnosed with breast cancer, one of the most unsettling moments came when her cancer nurse showed her post-surgery scar photos.
The senior Labour MP recalled anxiously staring at a series of images, all depicting the bodies of white women, as the nurse flipped through them.
“She was flicking through the screens. I could feel—obviously, there’s the anxiety—but I also felt quite emotional because I thought, I’m not going to look like that because my body doesn’t look like that. I’ve got darker-colored skin,” Butler shared.
“I hadn’t yet come to terms with my diagnosis and had to make some big decisions. I was very tearful, quite distressed, trying to hold it all together. When you’re confronted with your own mortality and the reality that your body is going to change, not seeing what my scars would look like added to my stress.”
It wasn’t until much later, and only after Butler herself asked, that she was shown photos of Black women. “A part of me didn’t want to mention it because I didn’t want to be seen as difficult or awkward,” she explained. “After wrestling with that in my head, I just said: ‘Do you have any Black women’s bodies that I can see, please?’”
In an interview with the Mirror, Butler revealed that when she was diagnosed in 2021, she initially wanted to distance herself from the cancer community. “I was forced into this cancer world. I wanted to get out as soon as I could and forget it ever happened to me,” she said.
However, a chance encounter with Leanne Pero, founder of Black Women Rising (BWR), transformed her outlook. Now a patron of the cancer charity, Butler works with Pero to advocate for a more equitable system for women of all backgrounds facing breast cancer.
Addressing Racial Disparities
Although research on racial disparities in cancer experiences within the NHS remains limited, a survey conducted by BWR revealed alarming trends. Among 100 women of color surveyed, nearly three-quarters (74%) reported not being offered a prosthetic breast or nipple that matched their skin tone, while 78% said they weren’t given a suitable free wig option.
Studies also show that Black women are more likely to receive later-stage and more aggressive cancer diagnoses and to develop breast cancer at a younger age. In the U.S., Black women face a 38% higher mortality rate than white women, with those under 50 experiencing double the death rate.
Leanne Pero, a dance teacher from Peckham, shared how her own diagnosis at age 31, just six months after her mother’s diagnosis, “completely rocked me to my core.” Initially, a doctor dismissed her concerns, calling her “paranoid” and “too young” for cancer. Later, at a hospital support group, she was told she looked “far too young” to be there.
In 2017, Pero founded Black Women Rising to provide support for women of color. The organization now hosts coffee mornings, online and in-person support groups, and opportunities for members to share their experiences and build community. Since its inception, the group has grown to 600 members and garnered support from high-profile figures like Elizabeth Hurley.
Fighting Myths and Stigma
BWR also tackles the unique challenges faced by women of color at both community and medical levels. Pero noted instances where women were excluded from family events due to misconceptions about cancer being contagious or dismissed with advice to “pray the cancer away” because it was seen as a “religious curse.”
“People are being told a load of myths and taboos about cancer drugs and being told not to take them or not to tell anybody that they’ve got cancer,” Pero said. “So they’re going through these journeys completely isolated.”
Pero’s main appeal to the government is for more research into how cancer impacts Black and brown communities. “There are different statistics flying around, so it’s hard to get the full picture,” she said. “What we do know is that we have some of the worst outcomes for cancer in this country, and more needs to be done.”
A Mission for Inclusion
Pero emphasizes that BWR’s work isn’t about assigning blame but about addressing disparities to improve outcomes for everyone. Despite facing trolling and even death threats for creating an organization centered on women of color, she remains committed to fostering an inclusive dialogue.
Dawn Butler echoed this sentiment. “Inevitably, we’re going to get some abuse from this. Why Black women? But it’s not exclusionary. I want all women to be treated fairly within systems,” she said.
“It’s a fact that if you create a system that treats, in this situation, Black women well, that system will treat every woman well because you’re raising the bar. This is about making the system better, and we’re stronger when we can have that united voice.” Source: Mirror
