In Brazil, not many people understand the value of a social movement, non-governmental organization (NGO) or grassroots organization. Even among those who do, there is little recognition about what a rights approach is, and why it is important for specific human rights organizations to exist. Many Brazilians have misconceptions about human rights and who deserves them, such as the idea that criminals shouldn’t have rights or supporting lowering the age of criminal responsibility. We also now have strongly conservative political groups in the Congress organized against human rights principles and organizations. In addition, there is no fiscal incentive for donations in general, with a few exceptions in sports, culture and child-related initiatives. Otherwise, donations for non-profit organizations above a minimum value are charged at the same rate as Brazilian taxes on inheritance.
Even so, in our current political climate, there are a lot of citizens hoping for a better country and looking to take part of some kind of movement to facilitate change. With this in mind, the Brazil Human Rights Fund was established ten years ago to promote human rights and to raise awareness about how civil society organizations are essential political actors. The idea has always been to engage individuals by putting them in contact with rights-based organizations, in order to reveal how these organizations are a fundamental part of any possible social change. We believe that if Brazilian citizens understand the importance of frontline groups in promoting and defending their rights, it will be much easier to get support for their initiatives.
It’s hard to appeal to regular citizens who aren’t as affected by these violations. To date, we have accomplished many important goals. We are a well-known grantmaker in the field of human rights in Brazil, with a transparent selection process, recognized ability to empower grassroots groups, and an efficient monitoring system. Yet in a social movement with a long history and a culture that has experienced so much pain and suffering, the human rights movement has a tradition of presenting itself as necessarily being very serious. As such, it’s hard to appeal to regular citizens who aren’t as affected by these violations. It’s also sometimes difficult to be innovative, humorous or creative in breaking paradigms without appearing disrespectful.
