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Volume 15
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10.3390/socsci15060339
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico

by
Karen-Edith Córdova-Esparza
1,*,
Elvia-Izel Landaverde-Romero
2,
Diana-Margarita Córdova-Esparza
3,
Rocio-Edith López-Martínez
3 and
Teresa García-Ramírez
3
1
Facultad de Filosofía, Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro, Av. 16 de septiembre No.57, Centro Histórico, Queretaro 76000, Mexico
2
Facultad de Psicología y Educación, Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro, Cerro de las Campanas, Centro Universitario S/N, Queretaro 76017, Mexico
3
Facultad de Informática, Universidad Autónoma de Queretaro, Av. de las Ciencias S/N, Juriquilla, Queretaro 76230, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Soc. Sci. 2026, 15(6), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339
Submission received: 27 January 2026 / Revised: 16 May 2026 / Accepted: 19 May 2026 / Published: 22 May 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Zones of Violence: Mediating Gender, Power, and Place)
Versions Notes

Abstract

This article examines how justice institutions produce and reproduce gender-based violence against women through the invisibilization of moral violence, with particular attention to their spatial dimensions. Drawing on the concept of juridical–patriarchal habitus, the study conceptualizes justice institutions not only as sites of legal action but as spatial formations that shape the visibility, recognition, and adjudication of harm. Using a feminist ethnographic approach, the article analyzes two cases of gender-based violence documented in 2020 in the municipality of Querétaro, Mexico. The findings demonstrate how movement into legal and institutional spaces transforms lived experiences of violence, as procedural requirements, evidentiary expectations, and institutional interactions operate as spatial filters that render certain forms of harm visible while obscuring others. In this process, justice actors construct and reproduce gendered stereotypes about what counts as violence, simultaneously positioning women as victims and subjecting them to processes of revictimization. By conceptualizing the invisibility of moral violence as a spatially mediated process, the article contributes to debates in legal and feminist geography, highlighting how institutional spaces not only respond to gender-based violence but actively participate in its production and concealment.
Keywords: legal habitus; patriarchy; gender; moral violence; justice institutions legal habitus; patriarchy; gender; moral violence; justice institutions

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MDPI and ACS Style

Córdova-Esparza, K.-E.; Landaverde-Romero, E.-I.; Córdova-Esparza, D.-M.; López-Martínez, R.-E.; García-Ramírez, T. Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico. Soc. Sci. 2026, 15, 339. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339

AMA Style

Córdova-Esparza K-E, Landaverde-Romero E-I, Córdova-Esparza D-M, López-Martínez R-E, García-Ramírez T. Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico. Social Sciences. 2026; 15(6):339. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339

Chicago/Turabian Style

Córdova-Esparza, Karen-Edith, Elvia-Izel Landaverde-Romero, Diana-Margarita Córdova-Esparza, Rocio-Edith López-Martínez, and Teresa García-Ramírez. 2026. "Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico" Social Sciences 15, no. 6: 339. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339

APA Style

Córdova-Esparza, K.-E., Landaverde-Romero, E.-I., Córdova-Esparza, D.-M., López-Martínez, R.-E., & García-Ramírez, T. (2026). Juridical–Patriarchal Habitus: Invisibility of Moral Violence Based on Gender Against Women in the Legal Field of Queretaro, Mexico. Social Sciences, 15(6), 339. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci15060339

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