结构性暴力是指社会结构使不平等永久化，从而造成可预防的痛苦的任何情景。在研究结构性暴力时，我们会研究社会结构（经济，政治，医疗和法律制度）如何对特定群体和社区产生不成比例的负面影响。结构性暴力的概念使我们有办法考虑这些负面影响的发生方式和形式，以及可以采取哪些措施来减少这种损害。结构性暴力一词是由挪威社会学家Johan Gultang创造的。在1969年的文章“暴力，和平与和平研究”中，Gultang认为结构性暴力解释了社会制度和社会组织系统在边缘化社区中的负面影响力。重要的是要将Gultang的暴力概念与传统上定义的术语（战争或犯罪的物理暴力）区分开来。 Gultang将结构性暴力定义为人们潜在现实与实际情况之间差异的根本原因。例如，由于诸如种族主义，经济不平等或性别歧视等因素，一般人口的潜在预期寿命可能远远长于弱势群体成员的实际预期寿命。在这个例子中，潜在和实际预期寿命之间的差异是由结构性暴力造成的。
Structural violence refers to any situation in which social structures perpetuate inequality and thus cause preventable suffering. In studying structural violence, we examine how social structures (economic, political, medical, and legal systems) have a disproportionately negative impact on specific groups and communities. The concept of structural violence gives us a way to consider how and where these negative effects occur and what steps can be taken to reduce it. The term structural violence was coined by Norwegian sociologist Johan Gultang. In the 1969 article “Violence, Peace and Peace Studies,” Gultang argues that structural violence explains the negative influence of social institutions and social organization systems in marginalized communities. It is important to distinguish Gultang’s concept of violence from the traditionally defined terminology (physical violence of war or crime). Gultang defines structural violence as the root cause of the difference between potential reality and actual conditions. For example, due to factors such as racism, economic inequality or gender discrimination, the potential life expectancy of the general population may be much longer than the actual life expectancy of members of vulnerable groups. In this example, the difference between potential and actual life expectancy is caused by structural violence.