GENDER AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

Structural violence is the concept of macro, system-level inequality and oppression which was introduced in modernist discourse by Johan Galtung in 1969 through the article ‘Violence, Peace, and Peace Research’. It refers to a form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. Institutionalized adultism, ageism, classism, elitism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, speciesism, racism, and sexism are some examples of structural violence as proposed by Galtung. Because structural violence affects people differently in various social structures, it is very closely linked to social injustice. Structural violence and direct violence are said to be highly interdependent, including family violence, gender violence, hate crimes, racial violence, police violence, state violence, terrorism, and war. Structural violence is the most basic or fundamental form of violence. It is expressive of the conditions of society, the structures of social order, and the institutional arrangements of power within the society. The articles in this volume look at various societal structures and institutions to understand violence against women. The book will interest researchers, academics, social workers and all those concerned with gender-based violence.