Power from the spectrum of gender violence: the practice of instrumentalizing the female body as a political object during the chilean dictatorship (1973-1990)

Abstract

This study aims to understand how the violence and instrumentalization perpetrated against Chilean women was transformed into a form of both political and military power during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990). Based on the reviewed literature, it was observed that the regime used sexual violence and other brutal forms of repression to humiliate and silence women who opposed the system, while simultaneously reinforcing patriarchal values and perpetuating gender inequalities. The research consists of a bibliographic review on the Chilean dictatorship and its impacts, combined with testimonies of women, found in books, who were victims of the instrumentalization of their bodies, thus contributing to the consolidation of this political and military violence.