Honor-based violence represents the most extreme manifestation of gender-based violence against women and occurs across many societies. The present study aims to examine the conditions surrounding the occurrence of honor-based violence from the perspective of its survivors in Sardasht. The conceptual framework draws on the social construction of gender, Connell’s theory of masculinity, and Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic capital. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study employed semi-structured interviews for data collection until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis followed Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis technique. Findings derived from 17 purposively and snowball-sampled interviews, analyzed using MAXQDA 2020, yielded 110 initial codes, 15 subthemes, and 4 overarching themes: (1) Honor as symbolic capital, (2) The construction of subordinate femininity, (3) The construction of hegemonic dominant masculinity, and (4) The commodification of women. From the perspective of survivors (families of victims and perpetrators alike), honor-based violence emerges from the definition and reproduction of “woman” as a symbolic capital of family and communal honor, situated within a social context where subordinate femininity and dominant masculinity coexist with the objectification and commodification of women in a patriarchal system: a dynamic that both generates and reinforces gender-based violence.