Human rights include the right to life and property, the right of expression, the right to security from discrimination and the right to protection from physical and mental harm. The anti-oppressive theory challenges inequality in society by relying on human rights, and it is an essential driver of anti-oppressive practice. The awareness of human rights and adoption of human rights perspectives can help people to frame circumstances concerning oppression into those of violations of rights, thereby making governments and citizens accountable for addressing and resolving such violations.
Anti-oppressive theory and practice recognise oppression in communities, societies, and culture, and is meant to undo the sway of such abuse. The anti-oppressive method tries to offer more suitable, responsive, and alert services by reacting to the needs of individuals without considering their social status.
People, particularly mental health workers, should gain knowledge and understanding of their selves, different groups and cultures, social systems, and fundamental human rights to effectively face issues on personal and structural levels and pursue anti-oppressive practices.
An understanding of human rights and various cultural issues can also help people significantly in understanding themselves, and realise the impact as well as the reasons for continuance of oppression in modern-day society, and in addressing such issues.
Social workers, in particular, must be considerate about the human needs of persons who are poor, vulnerable, and oppressed; they can improve their practice effectiveness significantly by understanding and becoming sensitive to cultural diversity and uniqueness. We know that large organisations have more power over small agencies, and have more access to support from the government.
Soapbox introduces several agencies and organisations that provide mental health services to people. When readers are more familiar with the services in their community or around Sydney, they have more options to select for getting help. On the one hand, Soapbox, by helping creating competition, gives power to people to have more choice to find the best services. On the other hand, Soapbox encourages agencies to upgrade their services and facilities to be more in line with the needs of clients.
Soapbox wants to empower its community through behaviour activation and hopes. We can find a relationship between anti-oppressive theory and Soapbox approaches. Soapbox is introducing lots of organisations and agencies which are providing different services for people who are suffering from mental health issues as well as giving some useful suggestions to improve people’s mental health.