Darkover
Archangel
- Jul 29, 2021
- 5,634
Structural Violence and the Right to Die: Structural violence refers to the systemic inequalities that lead to suffering, such as economic disparities, lack of access to healthcare, and social marginalization. In the context of the right to die, if a person is suffering from a terminal illness, chronic pain, or severe mental illness but is denied the right to end their life due to legal, religious, or institutional barriers, this could be seen as structural violence. The system's refusal to acknowledge their suffering and provide access to assisted suicide or euthanasia could perpetuate unnecessary suffering.
Institutionalized torture typically involves deliberate infliction of pain, but it could be argued that forcing individuals to endure unbearable physical or psychological suffering, without giving them the option to end their life humanely, resembles a form of institutionalized torture. By withholding the right to die, institutions could be seen as complicit in prolonging an individual's suffering, which may amount to cruelty or inhumane treatment.
This idea is particularly relevant in societies where terminally ill or severely suffering individuals are kept alive against their will, with no legal access to assisted suicide or euthanasia. The denial of the right to die, especially when someone's quality of life has deteriorated beyond repair, could be viewed as both structural violence and a form of institutionalized suffering.
Institutionalized torture typically involves deliberate infliction of pain, but it could be argued that forcing individuals to endure unbearable physical or psychological suffering, without giving them the option to end their life humanely, resembles a form of institutionalized torture. By withholding the right to die, institutions could be seen as complicit in prolonging an individual's suffering, which may amount to cruelty or inhumane treatment.
This idea is particularly relevant in societies where terminally ill or severely suffering individuals are kept alive against their will, with no legal access to assisted suicide or euthanasia. The denial of the right to die, especially when someone's quality of life has deteriorated beyond repair, could be viewed as both structural violence and a form of institutionalized suffering.
