The concept of "structural violence" was introduced by Johan Galtung, a pioneer in the field of peace studies. It refers to a form of violence wherein social structures or social institutions harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. Unlike direct violence, which is overt and often physical, structural violence is subtle and often invisible, embedded in ubiquitous social structures, normalized by stable institutions and regular practices. For example, structural violence occurs when a minority group is systematically denied access to rights, opportunities, and resources that are otherwise available to other segments of the society, such as adequate healthcare, [education](https://doctorparadox.net/category/education/), or legal protections. This kind of violence is not perpetrated by an individual directly but is built into the very fabric of society through unequal power relationships and societal norms, thus sustaining significant harm to individuals or groups without any direct actor committing an act of violence. See also: [[social justice]], [[human rights]], [[civil rights]], [[voting rights]], [Stochastic terrorism](https://doctorparadox.net/dictionaries/disinformation-dictionary/stochastic-terrorism/)