Discourses of Complicit Denial and their Relationship to Gender-based Violence in Puerto Rico

While psychological violence is often studied as a form of violence that leads to physical abuse, little research exists on the daily social manifestations of this violence. This study examines what I have called complicit denial, social discourses that protect male entitlement while trivializing women’s experiences and perpetuating machismo in Puerto Rico. Discourses of complicit denial carry underlying patriarchal values that serve to create a form of psychological violence that supports women’s acceptance of male authority. I explore how complicit denial reinforces patriarchal gender norms and gender-based violence. The study employs a feminist-grounded theoretical approach using mixed methods, including a theoretical framework and a data collection of 355 participant responses to a questionnaire designed for this investigation. Research analysis provides evidence that discourses of complicit denial reproduce patriarchal gender norms that devalue women and shape the conditions that lead to gender-based violence and feminicides.