Gendered Violence and Geopolitical Contexts
Summary
Gendered violence encompasses physical, sexual, psychological and structural harms directed at individuals on the basis of gender. When situated within geopolitical contexts, such violence is shaped by state policies, conflict dynamics, migration regimes and global economic structures. Research shows that authoritarian governance, armed conflict and neoliberal market integration all generate environments in which gendered harms intensify or become legitimised. At the same time, survivors develop diverse forms of resistance and solidarity, from grassroots mobilisation to legal challenges. Understanding these dynamics requires attention to the interplay between intimate spaces and broader power relations, as well as the ways in which structural inequalities—racial, economic and legal—intersect with gendered harms. The global significance of this work lies in its capacity to inform policy responses, humanitarian interventions and community-based strategies that recognise both local specificities and transnational linkages.
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Gendered Violence and Geopolitical Contexts publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in gendered violence and geopolitical contexts across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Gendered infrastructural violence: Systemic harm embedded in the design and operation of institutions (e.g. legal, healthcare, migration) that disproportionately affects survivors of gendered abuse.
Urban trauma: The cumulative psychological and spatial impacts of intersecting forms of violence experienced within city environments.
Emotional-political community: A collective formed through shared affective experiences and mutual care that evolves into political mobilisation against gendered and structural harms.
References
- Navigating migrant infrastructure and gendered infrastructural violence: reflections from Brazilian women in London. Gender Place & Culture (2022).
- ‘Volviendo a Vivir’ (coming back to life): Urban trauma, activism and building emancipatory futures. Urban Studies (2023).
- Building emotional-political communities to address gendered violence against women and girls during COVID-19 in the favelas of Maré, Rio de Janeiro. Social & Cultural Geography (2022).
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