The Role of Núcleo de Estudos da Violência in the Struggle for Universal Access to Human Rights in Brazil

The Center for the Study of Violence, or Núcleo de Estudos da Violência (NEV), was conceived in 1987 as an interdisciplinary academic center dedicated to studying the persistence of human rights violations and resistance to the rule of law during Brazil`s transition from military rule todemocracy. Fifteen years later, the main theoretical challenge in NEV’s work remains the persistence of human rights violations-in particular, such gross violations as those that inhibit the right to life and to physical integrity and their impact on establishing a democratic society in Brazil.