Capitalism and Gender-Based Violence: A Study of Northern Central American Undocumented Women Migrants

Abstract Gender-based violence is not an isolated or random occurrence but an abstract, structural phenomenon dialectically determined by the dominant mode of production. In capitalism, economic inequalities shape it, and patriarchal social norms reproduce it until it normalizes. While all women suffer this violence, those in vulnerable groups – such as undocumented migrants – face compounded oppression. This article explores how capitalist structures contribute to both the creation and perpetuation of a specific type of gender-based violence through the lens of the Theory of Social Reproduction (TSR). Focusing on undocumented migrant women from the Northern Triangle of Central America, I argue that their experiences of violence are not mere acts of individual male dominance but instead are the manifestation of the capitalist structure that, by exerting violence, sustains favorable conditions for capital accumulation. For Northern Central American undocumented migrant women, violence acts as a coercive mechanism that enforces gender norms by subjecting their bodies to the capitalist mode of production. By analyzing the interplay between capitalism, patriarchy, and migration, this study aims to contribute to understanding how material conditions shape the violence suffered by migrant women and the urgent need to challenge the structural forces that perpetuate their oppression.