The following paper examines the theme of institutional violence in contemporary Argentine crime fiction by focusing on the analyses of fictional individual instances of violence in Claudia Piñeiro’s 2020 novel Catedrales. Set against a contrasting backdrop of post-dictatorship (1976-1983) and present-day Argentina, the novel spans a thirty-year period, centring around the death and dismemberment of an adolescent, Ana. As the story unfolds, we discover Ana’s death to be a direct result of a clandestine abortion, and her mutilation being an attempt at its concealment. Through Ana’s experience, Piñeiro demonstrates how restrictive laws and enforced social norms around abortion, sex, and family structure, which in the case of the novel are propagated by religious fanaticism, can drive individuals to engage in unregulated illegal activities and unimaginable acts of violence. The purpose of this chapter is to examine Piñeiro’s portrayal of past instances of violence, arising as a direct consequence of restrictions imposed on individuals by the state, religion, and society. Consequently, the paper focuses on exploring these three elements by addressing the issues of illegal abortion and legislative overreach, social pressure as well as religious fanaticism. Moreover, the lingering effects of the Argentine 1976-1983 military dictatorship are addressed due to their influence on the fictional instances of violence. In this context, the paper aims to illustrate the ongoing institutional violence in contemporary Argentina while simultaneously highlighting the legacy of the military regime.