Abstract

RUIZ PROVOSTE, María de los Ángeles. Multispecies families and vicarious violence: interdisciplinary foundations for their recognition in Chile. Acad. (Asunción) [online]. 2026, vol.13, n.1, e1463.  Epub May 30, 2026. ISSN 2414-8938.  https://doi.org/10.30545/academo.2026.n1.1463.

This qualitative socio-legal study, based on an interdisciplinary literature review, aims to analyze the instrumentalization of companion animals as a manifestation of gender-based violence in the form of vicarious violence. To this end, it articulates the concept of the multispecies family, the contributions of neuroscience to the human-animal bond, gender-based violence, and its legal implications in the Chilean legal system. The documentary study is exploratory and propositional in scope, consisting of an analysis of secondary sources with a gender focus. Emphasis is placed on identifying tensions and regulatory gaps, as well as suggesting interpretative and legislative guidelines. Finally, it concludes that, in Chile, there is no express recognition of the multispecies family or vicarious violence and proposes legal grounds for incorporating non-human emotional bonds into the understanding of contemporary forms of violence, progressing towards a notion of multispecies gender justice through regulatory change.

Keywords : Gender violence; gender perspective; vicarious violence; multispecies family.

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