The Brazil Human Rights Fund was established in 2006 through the initiative of activists with extensive experience in defending human rights.
It was a moment of consolidation for Brazilian democracy. Those working in the field acknowledged that the country had advanced since the end of the military regime. Freedom of assembly was formally guaranteed, and organizations were emerging across the country to defend and expand fundamental rights.
But Brazil at the start of the century still grappled with longstanding challenges and structural problems: from the racism that shapes our social relations to the violence against activists that made — and still makes — Brazil one of the most dangerous countries for human rights defenders.
Our four founders were well aware of this and understood collective action as essential to changing this reality.
Rose Marie Muraro, Margarida Genevois, Dom Pedro Casaldáliga, and Abdias Nascimento were pioneers in bringing human rights issues to the forefront of Brazilian society.
Their emancipatory ideas broke with convention and offered a new perspective on social justice, inspiring multiple generations of human rights defenders. Their actions played a key role in mobilizing civil society in the country and gained international resonance.
Their resistance and outrage at the violations they witnessed made them targets of criticism and, at times, persecution. Even so, they continued to work relentlessly and consistently toward transforming inequality and injustice.
The profiles below offer a glimpse into the lives and legacies of these influential figures, whose contributions have been vital to strengthening Brazil’s democracy.
Margarida Genevois, the grande dame of human rights in Brazil
The sociologist fought against the military dictatorship and, at 103, advocates for human rights education as a tool for social transformation.
D. Pedro Casaldáliga, bishop and advocate for the poor and Indigenous peoples
A leading figure in Liberation Theology, he championed agrarian reform.
Abdias Nascimento e Nels0n Mandela
Abdias Nascimento, pioneer of affirmative action for Black Brazilians
An activist, politician, and playwright, the founder of the Brazil Fund challenged the myth of racial democracy by exposing systemic racism in Brazilian society.
Rose Marie Muraro
Rose Marie Muraro, patron of feminism in Brazil
A writer, editor, and activist, she wanted her books to “set the world on fire.”
