Indian Gender Resource Center

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Empowerment: Empowerment is about people taking control over their lives. It is about people pursuing their own goals, living according to their own values, developing self-reliance, and being able to make choices and influence - both individually and collectively - the decisions that affect their lives. Empowerment is a process, which can be long and complex. For women and men to be empowered conditions have to be created to enable them to acquire the necessary resources, knowledge, political voice and organizational capacity. [IFAD]

Empowerment: Describes both the process and the outcome of people - women and men - taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, gaining skills (or having their own skills and knowledge recognized), increasing self-confidence, solving problems, and developing self-reliance. Empowerment implies an expansion in women's ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them. In most cases the empowerment of women requires transformation of the division of labour and of society. [MIGS]

Empowerment: Empowerment implies people – both women and men – taking control over their lives by setting their own agendas, gaining skills (or having their own skills and knowledge recognized), increasing their self‑confidence, solving problems, and developing self-reliance. It is both a process and an outcome. Empowerment implies an expansion in women's ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them. [UNEP]

Endogamy: A system in which an individual may only marry within the same social category or group. [RSU]

Engendering: To make the process or activity gender sensitive or gender-responsive by incorporating gender needs and interests and or eliminating gender discriminatory policies, strategies and practices. [UN-ESA]

Epistemology: An epistemology is a theory of knowledge. Feminists and gender researchers have argued that traditional epistemologies exclude the possibility that women can be “knowers” or agents of knowledge; they claim that the voice of science is a masculine one and that history is written exclusively from the point of view of men (of the dominant class and race).They have proposed alternative epistemologies that legitimate women’s knowledge. [MIGS]

Equal Opportunities: Equal opportunities means ensuring the opportunity for full and equal participation of men and women in all aspects of political, social, cultural and economic life. [OSCE]

Equal Pay: Equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value. [MIGS]

Equality: This human rights principle mandates the same treatment of persons. The notion of fairness and respect for the inherent dignity of all human beings, as specified in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." [HRUSA]

Equality: Refers to a revised term for 'Equal Opportunities'. It is based on the legal obligation to comply with anti-discrimination legislation. Equality protects people from minority groups from being discriminated against on the grounds of group membership, i.e. sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or age. [MIGS]

Equality of Outcome: Is sometimes also referred to as “substantive equality”, and refers to the insight that equality of opportunity may not be enough to redress the historical oppression and disadvantage of women. Because of their different positions in society, women and men may not be able to take advantage of equal opportunities to the same extent. In some cases equal opportunities can actually have a negative impact on women’s well-being, if women exert time and energy to take advantage of them with no result. In order to ensure that development interventions result in equality of outcome for women and men, it is necessary to design them on the basis of gender analysis. “Equal” treatment therefore does not mean “the same” treatment. [MIGS]

Equity and Sustainable Development: Equity derives from a concept of social justice. It represents a belief that there are some things that people should have, that there are basic needs that should be fulfilled, that burdens and rewards should not be spread too divergently across the community, and that policies should be directed with impartiality, fairness and justice towards these ends. Equity means that there should be a minimum level of income and environmental quality below which nobody falls. The central ethical principle behind sustainable development is equity and particularly intergenerational equity defined as a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. [MIGS]

Equity Strategies: Equity strategies refer to the processes used to achieve gender equality. Equity involves fairness in representation, participation, and benefits afforded to males and females. The goal is that both groups have a fair chance of having their needs met and that they have equal access to opportunities for realizing their full potential as human beings. [USAID]

Exogamy: A system in which an individual may only marry outside their social category or group. [RSU]

Extended Family: Family arrangement with three or more generations (grandparents, parents and children). The extended family was the dominant form in pre-industrial societies. [Triton]

Extended Family: A family group consisting of more than two generations of the same kinship line living either within the same household or, more usually in the West, very close to one another. [RSU]

Family: A group of individuals related to one another by blood ties, marriage or adoption. Members of families form an economic unit, the adult members of which are responsible for the upbringing of children. All societies involve some form of family, although the form the family takes is widely variable. In modern industrial societies the main family form is the nuclear family, although a variety of extended family relationships are also found. [RSU]

Family of Orientation: The family into which an individual is born. [RSU]

Family of Procreation: The family we create through marriage. [RSU]

Fecundity: The number of children which is biologically possible for a woman to produce. [RSU]

Female Genital Cutting (FGC): also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision, refers to "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons." It is not the same as the procedures used in gender reassignment surgery or the genital modification of intersexuals. [Wikigender]

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. Increasingly, however, FGM is being performed by medically trained personnel. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. [MIGS]

Female Infanticide: the prevalent form of sex-selective infanticide, is the systematic killing of girls at or soon after birth. It normally occurs when a society values male children to the point that producing a female is considered dishonorable, shameful, or an unacceptable investment to the individuals. [Wikigender]

Female Infanticide: Killing of a girl child within weeks of her birth. [MIGS]

Femicide: The killings of women and girls because of their gender. The causes and risk factors of this type of violence are linked to gender inequality, discrimination, and economic disempowerment and are the result of a systematic disregard for women’s human rights. It occurs in an environment where everyday acts of violence are accepted and impunity is facilitated by the government’s refusal to deal with the problems. [MIGS]

Femininity: The characteristic behaviors expected of women in a given culture. [RSU]

Feminisation of Agriculture: Feminisation of agriculture refers to women’s increasing participation in the agricultural labor force, whether as independent producers, as unremunerated family workers, or as agricultural wage workers. Specifically, feminisation of agriculture entails:

1. An increase in women’s participation rates in the agricultural sector, either as self-employed or as agricultural wage workers; in other words, an increase in the percentage of women who are economically active in rural areas.

2. An increase in the percentage of women in the agricultural labor force relative to men, either because more women are working and/or because fewer men are working in agriculture. [RIMISP]

Feminisation of Migration: The growing participation of women in migration. Women now move around more independently and no longer in relation to their family position or under a man’s authority (roughly 48 per cent of all migrants are women). [MIGS]

Feminisation of Poverty: The majority of the 1.5 billion people living on 1 dollar a day or less are women. In addition, the gap between women and men caught in the cycle of poverty has continued to widen in the past decade, a phenomenon commonly referred to as "the feminization of poverty". Worldwide, women earn on average slightly more than 50 per cent of what men earn.

Women living in poverty are often denied access to critical resources such as credit, land and inheritance. Their labor goes unrewarded and unrecognized. Their health care and nutritional needs are not given priority, they lack sufficient access to education and support services, and their participation in decision-making at home and in the community are minimal. Caught in the cycle of poverty, women lack access to resources and services to change their situation. Although in general, women are not always poorer than men, because of the weaker and contingent basis of their entitlements, they are generally more vulnerable and, once poor, have less options in terms of escape. This suggests that interventions to address women’s poverty require a different set of policy responses. [MIGS]

Feminisation of Poverty: The increasing share and preponderance of women in poverty in comparison with men. [CZSO]

Feminization of Poverty: The fact that more women end up below the poverty line due to discriminatory behavior in society. [Triton]

Feminization of Poverty: A process by which increasing proportions of the poor are women and children. [RSU]

Feminism: Social movement that seeks equal rights for women. Widespread concern for women's rights dates from the Enlightenment; one of the first important expressions of the movement was Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, convened by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and others, called for full legal equality with men, including full educational opportunity and equal compensation; thereafter the woman suffrage movement began to gather momentum. It faced particularly stiff resistance in the United Kingdom and the United States, where women gained the right to vote in 1918 and 1920, respectively. By mid-century a second wave of feminism emerged to address the limited nature of women's participation in the workplace and prevailing notions that tended to confine women to the home. A third wave of feminism arose in the late 20th century and was notable for challenging middle-class white feminists and for broadening feminism's goals to encompass equal rights for all people regardless of race, creed, economic or educational status, physical appearance or ability, or sexual preference. [Britannica]

Feminism: Feminism is a movement for social, cultural, political and economic equality of women and men. It is a campaign against gender inequalities and it strives for equal rights for women. Feminism can be also defined as the right to enough information available to every single woman so that she can make a choice to live a life which is not discriminatory and which works within the principles of social, cultural, political and economic equality and independence. Feminism can be also defined as a global phenomenon which addresses various issues related to women across the world in a specific manner as applicable to a particular culture or society. Though the issues related to feminism may differ for different societies and culture but they are broadly tied together with the underlying philosophy of achieving equality of gender in every sphere of life. So feminism cannot be tied to any narrow definitions based on a particular class, race or religion. [MIGS]

Feminism: Advocacy of the social equality of the sexes. [RSU]

Feminism: comprises a number of social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies concerned with gender inequalities and equal rights for women. [Wikigender]

Feminism: is both the belief that social equality should exist between the sexes and the social movement aimed at achieving that goal.  Feminism is based on the philosophy that biology is not destiny. [Del Mar]

Feminist: One who advocates social and economic equality for women in opposition to the male dominated system of patriarchy. [Triton]

Feminist Geography: A geography which questions the patriarchal and hierarchical assumptions on which geography is based, and emphasizes the oppression of women and the gender inequality between men and women, especially as expressed in gendered space—from the masculine spaces of mines to city finance houses, to the feminized spaces of primary schools and garment factories.

Socialist feminist geographers are concerned with the way in which the structuring of space perpetuates traditional gender roles and relationships, and note the way in which spatial variations in gender relationships can affect industrial location; the availability of cheap female labour is a major attraction to employers, and the quantity of this type of labour varies regionally, nationally, and globally. There are those who draw analogies between women and colonized people, but others suggest that the commonalities between women and Third World people are far outweighed by the differences between them. [Answers.com]

Feminist Theory: An examination of women’s positions in society, based on the belief that current positions are unequal and unjust, which also provides tactics and criteria for change. [MIGS]

Fertility: The average number of live born children produced by women of childbearing age in a particular society. [RSU]

Fertility: is the natural capability of producing life. As a measure, the total fertility rate is the number of children that are expected to be born to a woman of child-bearing age. A rate of about 2.1 will produce a stable population, anything less leads to a decline in population. [Wikigender]

Fertility Rates: A computation of how many births per lifetime the average woman will have. [Triton]

Fetishism: Obsessive attachment or sexual desire directed toward an object. [RSU]

Field Research: Research that involves the investigator directly with the people or groups being studied. [RSU]

Foot Binding: was a custom  practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China, beginning in the 10th century and ending in the early 20th century. The main purpose of binding the feet was to break the arch of the foot which ultimately left a crevice approximately two inches deep in the foot which was considered most desirable. It took approximately two years for this process to reach the desired effect, hopefully a foot that measured three or three and one-half inches toe to heel. This perfect size was called the Golden Lotus. While foot binding could lead to serious infections, possible gangrene and were generally painful for life, contrary to many false tales the girls/women were able to walk, work in the fields, climb to mountain homes from valleys below. [Wikigender]

Forced Sterilization: refers to involuntary surgical sterilization, imposed by an individual or government body. The practice was more common in the first half of the 20th century, strongly influenced by current ideas of eugenics and intended to prevent the reproduction of members of society considered to be carriers of defective genetic traits. [Wikigender]

Formal Labor Market: Work that produces pay. [Triton]

G Spot: refers to an area in the upper, rear section of the vagina named after Ernest Grafenberg, who claimed that G-spot to be an erogenous zone. [Psychology Lexicon]

GAD: The gender and development approach seeks to base interventions on the analysis of men’s and women’s roles. This approach was developed in the 1980s. It questions the basis of assigning specific gender roles. Recognizes that patriarchy operates within and across classes both inside and outside the home and oppresses women. [DRWA, India]

GAD: GAD (Gender and Development) is a development approach based on gender analysis and sees gender equality as a fundamental development goal, with women’s empowerment and agency as key features of development strategy. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gay: A term used to identify a male homosexual. [Triton]

Gay Bashing: refers to attack against homosexuals which is either verbal or physical. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender: Gender refers to the social attributes and opportunities associated with being male and female and the relationships between women and men and girls and boys, as well as the relations between women and those between men. These attributes, opportunities and relationships are socially constructed and are learned through socialization processes. They are context/ time-specific and changeable. Gender determines what is expected, allowed and valued in a women or a man in a given context. In most societies there are differences and inequalities between women and men in responsibilities assigned, activities undertaken, access to and control over resources, as well as decision-making opportunities. Gender is part of the broader socio-cultural context. Other important criteria for socio-cultural analysis include class, race, poverty level, ethnic group and age. [UN WomenWatch]

Gender: The concept of gender needs to be understood clearly as a cross-cutting socio-cultural variable. It is an overarching variable in the sense that gender can also be applied to all other cross-cutting variables such as race, class, age, ethnic group, etc. Gender systems are established in different socio-cultural contexts which determine what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman/man and girl/boy in these specific contexts. Gender roles are learned through socialization processes; they are not fixed but are changeable. Gender systems are institutionalized through education systems, political and economic systems, legislation, and culture and traditions. In utilizing a gender approach the focus is not on individual women and men but on the system which determines gender roles / responsibilities, access to and control over resources, and decision-making potentials. It is also important to emphasize that the concept of gender is not interchangeable with women. Gender refers to both, women and men, and the relations between them. Promotion of gender equality should concern and engage men as well as women. In recent years there has been a much stronger direct focus on men in research on gender perspectives. There are three main approaches taken in the increased focus on men. Firstly, the need to identify men as allies for gender equality and involve them more actively in this work. Secondly, the recognition that gender equality is not possible unless men change their attitudes and behaviour in many areas, for example in relation to reproductive rights and health. And thirdly, that gender systems in place in many contexts are negative for men as well as for women – creating unrealistic demands on men and requiring men to behave in narrowly defined ways. A considerable amount of interesting research is being undertaken, by both women and men, on male identities and masculinity. The increased focus on men will have significant impact on future strategies for working with gender perspectives in development. [MIGS]

Gender: The term gender refers to culturally based expectations of the roles and behaviors of men and women. The term distinguishes the socially constructed from the biologically determined aspects of being male and female. Unlike the biology of sex, gender roles and behaviors and the relations between women and men (gender relations) can change over time, even if aspects of these roles originated in the biological differences between sexes. [IFAD]

Gender: Gender is a term used to describe socially constructed roles for women and men. Gender is an acquired identity that is learned, changes over time, and varies widely within and across cultures. On the contrary, sex, identifies the biological differences between men and women. Sex roles are universal and do not change over time or across cultures. [OSCE]

Gender: Social (as opposed to biological) differences between women and men. These differences have been acquired; they are changeable over time and have wide variations both within and between cultures. [DANIDA]

Gender: Gender identifies the social relations between men and women. It refers to the relationship between men and women, boys and girls, and how this is socially constructed. Gender roles are dynamic and change over time. [World Bank]

Gender: Gender means the socially constructed differences in roles and responsibilities assigned to women and men in a given culture or location and the societal structures that support them. Every society has different ‘scripts’ for male and female members to follow. Thus members learn to act out their feminine or masculine role, much in the same way as every society has its own language. The term gender was first used by Ann Oakley and others in 1970s as an analytical tool to understand the characteristics of men and women which are socially determined in contrasts to biological differences. [DRWA, India]

Gender: The term gender refers to the social roles and relations between women and men. This includes the different responsibilities of women and men in a given culture or location. Unlike the sex of men or women, which is biologically determined, the gender roles of women and men are socially constructed and such roles can change over time and vary according to geographic location and social context. [UNEP]

Gender: Gender is the socially constructed differences between men and women. These differ from one culture and society to another, change over time and define who has power and influence over what. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gender: Gender is the socially learned behavior and expectations associated with the two sexes. It also refers to the socially differentiated roles and characteristics attributed by a given culture to women and men. [NSCB, Philippines]

Gender: refers to behavioral differences between males and females that are culturally based and socially learned (Appelbaum & Chambliss, 1997:218). Henslin (1999) argues that in every society, the primary division between people is based on gender. [Del Mar]

Gender Analysis: Gender analysis involves the collection and analysis of sex-disaggregated data in order to reveal any differential impact of an action on women and men, and the effects of gender roles and responsibilities. It also involves qualitative analyses that help to clarify how and why these differential roles, responsibilities and impacts have come about. [OSCE]

Gender Analysis: Gender analysis is the study of differences in conditions, needs, participation rates, access to resources, and development, control of assets, decision-making powers, etc. – between women and men in their assigned gender roles. [DANIDA]

Gender Analysis: Gender analysis is the methodology for collecting and processing information about gender. It provides disaggregated data by sex, and an understanding of the social construction of gender roles, how labor is divided and valued. Gender analysis is the process of analyzing information in order to ensure development benefits and resources are effectively and equitably targeted to both women and men, and to successfully anticipate and avoid any negative impacts development interventions may have on women or on gender relations. [World Bank]

Gender Analysis: Gender analysis is a tool to better understand the realities of the women and men, whose lives are impacted by planned development. These include gender issues with respect to social relations; activities; access and control over resources, services, institutions of decision-making and networks of power and authority and needs, the distinct needs of men and women, both practical and strategic. [DRWA, India]

Gender Analysis: Gender analysis is a tool to assist in strengthening development planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and to make programmes and projects more efficient and relevant. Gender analysis should go beyond cataloguing differences to identifying inequalities and assessing relationships between women and men.  Gender analysis helps us to frame questions about women and men's roles and relations in order to avoid making assumptions about who does what, when and why. The aim of such analysis is to formulate development interventions that are better targeted to meet both women's and men's needs and constraints. [UNEP]

Gender Analysis: Refers to the variety of methods used to understand the relationships between men and women, their access to resources, their activities, and the constraints they face relative to each other. Gender analysis provides information that recognizes that gender, and its relationship with race, ethnicity, culture, class, age, disability, and/or other status, is important in understanding the different patterns of involvement, behaviour and activities that women and men have in economic, social and legal structures. [MIGS]

Gender Analytical Information: Gender analytical information is qualitative information on gender differences and inequalities. Gender analysis is about understanding culture, e.g. the patterns and norms of what men and women, boys and girls do and experience in relation to the issue being examined and addressed. Where patterns of gender difference and inequality are revealed in sex disaggregated data, gender analysis is the process of examining why the disparities are there, whether they are a matter for concern, and how they might be addressed. [MIGS]

Gender Aspect: A ‘gender aspect’ is that dimension or component of an issue which addresses gender specifically and takes this into account. [OSCE]

Gender Assessments: Gender assessments involve carrying out a gender analysis of an organization’s programs and of their ability to monitor and respond to gender issues throughout the program cycle. [USAID]

Gender Audit: Gender audit is the analysis and evaluation of policies, programmes, and institutions in terms of how they apply gender-related criteria. [DANIDA]

Gender Audit: Analysis and assessment of policies, programs and institutions based on whether they take into account the different impacts of their activities on women and men. [CZSO]

Gender Awareness: Gender awareness involves an understanding that there are socially determined differences between women and men based on learned behavior, which affects access to and control resources. This awareness needs to be applied through gender analysis into projects, programs and policies. [World Bank]

Gender Awareness: Is an understanding that there are socially determined differences between women & men based on learned behavior, which affect their ability to access and control resources. This awareness needs to be applied through gender analysis into projects, programs and policies. [MIGS]

Gender Awareness: Being conscious of the fact that men, women, boys and girls have different roles, responsibilities and needs. [UN-ESA]

Gender Balance: Gender balance refers to equal representation and participation of women and men. [OSCE]

Gender Balance: Equal or fair distribution of women and men within an institution or group, giving equality of representation. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gender-based Constraints: Gender based constraints are factors that inhibit either men's or women's access to resources or opportunities of any type. They can be formal laws, attitudes, perceptions, values, or practices (cultural, institutional, political, or economic). [USAID]

Gender-based Violence: Gender-based violence. The United Nations General Assembly in 1993 adopted the definition of violence against women as "any act that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life. It encompasses, but is not limited to: physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital cutting and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation; physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community, including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere; trafficking in women and forced prostitution; and physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the state, wherever it occurs." [IPPF]

Gender Bias: Gender bias is the perception that both sexes are not equal and do not have similar rights to resources. [DRWA, India]

Gender Biased: When socio-cultural beliefs favour specifically men, women, boys and girls only. [UN-ESA]

Gender Binary: The idea that there are only two genders or sexes—male/female or man/woman, and that a person must be strictly either/or. [MIT]

Gender Blind: A failure to recognize that gender is an essential determinant of social outcomes impacting on projects and policies. A gender-blind approach assumes gender is not an influencing factor in projects, programs or policy. [World Bank]

Gender Blind: Failure to recognize that gender is an essential determinant of life choices available to people in society. [DRWA, India]

Gender Blind: An approach/strategy/framework/programme may be defined as gender-blind when the gender dimension is not considered, although there is clear scope for such consideration. This is often as a result of lack of training in, knowledge of and sensitization to gender issues, leading to an incomplete picture of the situation being addressed and, consequently, to failure. [UNEP]

Gender Blindness: Inability to perceive that there are different gender roles, need, responsibilities of men, women, boys and girls, and as a result failure to realize that policies, programmes and projects can have different impact on men, women, boys and girls. [UN-ESA]

Gender-Blindness: Is the failure to recognise that gender is an essential determinant of social outcomes impacting on projects and policies. A gender blind approach assumes gender is not an influencing factor in projects, programs or policy. [MIGS]

Gender Budgeting: Gender budgeting refers to gender-based assessment of budgets, incorporating a gender perspective at all levels of the budgetary process and restructuring expenditures in order to promote gender equality. [DANIDA]

Gender Budgeting: Budgeting which takes into account equality between men and women and is the application of gender mainstreaming in the budgeting process. This involves evaluating budgets from a gender perspective, which means taking the question of gender into account at all phases of the budgeting process in order to achieve equality between men and women. This results in the fairer redistribution of finances on the principle of equal access to the utilisation of the financial resources that society has created to safeguard the needs both of women and men. [CZSO]

Gender Budgets: Gender budgets, ‘gender-sensitive budgets,’ or ‘women’s budgets,’ refers to a variety of processes and tools, which attempt to assess the impact of government budgets, mainly at national level, on different groups of men and women, through recognising the ways in which gender relations underpin society and the economy. Gender or women’s budget initiatives are not separate budgets for women. They include analysis of gender targeted allocations (e.g. special programmes targeting women); they disaggregate by gender the impact of mainstream expenditures across all sectors and services; and they review equal opportunities policies and allocations within government services. A number of possible tools for use in gender-sensitive budget analysis have been identified, including: gender-aware policy appraisal; gender-disaggregated beneficiary assessments; gender-disaggregated public expenditure incidence analysis gender-disaggregated tax incidence analysis; gender-disaggregated analysis of impact of budget on time use gender-aware medium term economic policy framework and gender-aware budget statements.[OECD]

Gender Contract: Set of implicit and explicit rules relating to gender relations which ascribe specific work and value, responsibility and obligations to women and men. These rules, which disadvantage men and women in various fields of life, are applied and enforced in daily life. They are defined at all levels in the form of norms and values held by the whole of society, in institutions as part of the training, work education and other systems, and at the level of socialization procedures, particularly within the family. [CZSO]

Gender-related Development Index (GDI): is a composite indicator of gender equality, developed by the United Nations (UN). It is one of the five indicators used by the United Nations Development Programme in its annual Human Development Report. It aims to show the inequalities between men and women in the following areas: long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living. [Wikigender]

Gender Discrimination: Gender discrimination refers to any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of socially constructed gender roles and norms which prevents a person from enjoying full human rights. [OSCE]

Gender Discrimination: Gender discrimination involves unfavourable treatment of individuals on the basis of their gender. [DRWA, India]

Gender Division of Labour: The “gender [or “sexual”] division of labour” refers to the allocation of different jobs or types of work to men and women, usually by tradition and custom. In feminist economics, the institutional rules, norms and practices which govern the allocation of tasks between men and women, girls and boys, also constitute the gender division of labour, which is seen as variable over time and space and constantly under negotiation. Unequal gender division of labour refers to a gender division of labour where there is an unequal gender division of reward. Discrimination against women in this sense means that women are likely to get most of the burden of labour, and most of the unpaid labour, whereas men collect most of the income and rewards resulting from the labour. In many countries, the most obvious pattern in the gender division of labour is that women are mostly confined to unpaid domestic work and unpaid food production, while men dominate in cash crop production and wage employment. [OECD]

Gender Dynamics: Gender dynamics refers to the relationships and interactions between and among boys, girls, women, and men. Gender dynamics are informed by socio-cultural ideas about gender and the power relationships that define them. Depending upon how they are manifested, gender dynamics can reinforce or challenge existing norms. [USAID]

Gender Dysphoria: is a condition where a person feels that they are trapped within a body of the wrong sex. The condition is also sometimes known as gender identity disorder, gender incongruence, or transgenderism. People who have long-lasting, extreme cases of gender dysphoria  are known as transsexuals. [NHS, UK]

Gender Equality: Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men and girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men. Gender equality is not a women’s issue but should concern and fully engage men as well as women. Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centered development. [UN WomenWatch]

Gender Equality: In IFAD's terminology, gender equality means that women and men have equal opportunities, or life chances, to access and control socially valued goods and resources. This does not mean that the goal is that women and men become the same, but it does mean that we will work towards women's and men's equal life chances. [IFAD]

Gender Equality: Gender equality is the absence of discrimination on the basis of gender in opportunities, in the allocation of resources or benefits, or in access to services. It is thus the full and equal exercise by men and women of their human rights. Gender disparities are inequalities or differences based on gender. [OSCE]

Gender Equality: Gender equality means that all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by strict gender roles; that the different behaviour, aspirations, and needs of women and men are considered, valued, and favoured equally. [DANIDA]

Gender Equality: Gender equality is the result of the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in opportunities and the equal allocation of resources or benefits or in access to services. [World Bank]

Gender Equality: Gender equality means that women and men enjoy the same status. It also means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and potential to contribute to national, political, economic, social and cultural development. Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of both the similarities and differences between women and men, and the varying roles that they play. [DRWA, India]

Gender Equality Interests: These are interests derived from an analysis of inequality based on gender differences, and aim for a lasting transformation of gender relations in order to ensure full achievement of women's rights. [UNIFEM]

Gender Equality as a Development Objective: “At the United Nation Fourth World Conference for Women held in Beijing 1995, both DAC members and their partner countries made commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Beijing Declaration adopted at the Conference builds on the perspectives and strategies outlined at the previous United Nations conferences on education – Jomtien, (1990), environment- Rio(1992), human rights- Vienna (1993), population – Cairo (1994), and social development – Copenhagen (1995), including the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979). It is based on the principles of human rights and social justice. It clearly recognises that gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential for addressing the central concerns of poverty and insecurity, and for achieving sustainable, people centred development.’’ The follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1999 further recognizes that gender mainstreaming is a tool for effective policy-making at all levels and not a substitute for targeted, women-specific policies and programmes, equality legislation, national machineries for the advancement of women and the establishment of gender focal points. [MIGS]

Gender Equality and Equity: Gender equality means women and men have equal rights and should have the same entitlements and opportunities. Equality is rights-based. Gender equity means justice so that resources are fairly distributed, taking into account different needs. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gender Equity: Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities. In the development context, a gender equity goal often requires built-in measures to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages of women. [IFAD]

Gender Equity: Gender equity means fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men. It often requires women-specific programmes and policies to end existing inequalities. [DANIDA]

Gender Equity: Gender equity entails the provision of fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men. The concept recognizes that women and men have different needs and power and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies the imbalances between the sexes. [World Bank]

Gender Equity: Gender equity is the process of being fair to women and men. To ensure fairness, measures must often be available to compensate for historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from otherwise operating on a level playing field. Equity leads to equality. [DRWA, India]

Gender Equity: Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities. In the development context, a gender equity goal often requires built-in measures to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages of women. [UNEP]

Gender Gap: A gender gap, by definition, is a disproportionate difference or disparity between the sexes. Conventional wisdom is that differences between boys and girls in math and science are not a matter of biology; any observable differences are influences of the social environment. When parents encourage school-age children to excel in all subject areas, the school-based gender gap disappears. [ISTE]

Gender Gap: In the workplace, gender gaps refer to job opportunities and salary differences. Statistics show that men often earn more for the same work than women. The difference may be a result of the fact that men have been at the top of their professions longer. It takes a long time to undo the past, but bit by bit, the playing field has become more even. [UConn Libraries]

Gender Gap: The difference that exists between males and females in access to some social good or benefit based solely on their difference in gender (a difference almost always in favor of men). For example, the gender gap in education refers to the increased likelihood of better educational opportunity and achievement for males than females in most societies.

When economists speak of the “gender gap” these days, they usually are referring to systematic differences in the outcomes that men and women achieve in the labor market. These differences are seen in the percentages of men and women in the labor force, the types of occupations they choose, and their relative incomes or hourly wages. These economic gender gaps, which were salient issues during the women’s movement in the 1960s and 1970s, have been of interest to economists at least since the 1890s. [Econlib]

Gender Gap: Political term referring to the gap between men and women on political attitudes and behavior. [RSU]

Gender Gap (Pay): The percentage difference between the median hourly earnings of men and women, excluding overtime payments. The causes of the gender pay gap are complex – key factors include: human capital differences: i.e. differences in educational levels and work experience; part-time working; travel patterns and occupational segregation. Other factors include: job grading practices, appraisal systems, and pay discrimination. [MIGS]

Gender Identity refers to a subjective, but continuous and persistent, sense of ourselves as masculine or feminine. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender Identity: Thinking of oneself as either male or female in accordance with the cultural norms associated with those roles. [Triton]

Gender Identity: One's self definition as a man or a woman. [RSU]

Gender Identity Disorder: refers to psychological dissatisfaction with biological gender, or a disturbance in the sense of Identity as a male or female. The primary goal is not sexual arousal but rather to live the life of the opposite gender. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID-DB, OECD): The Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID-DB) represents a new tool for researchers and policy makers to determine and analyse obstacles to women’s economic development. It covers a total of 161 countries and comprises an array of 60 indicators on gender discrimination. The data base has been compiled from various sources and combines in a systematic and coherent fashion the current empirical evidence that exists on the socio-economic status of women. Its true innovation is the inclusion of institutional variables that range from intra-household behaviour to social norms. Information on cultural and traditional practices that impact on women’s economic development is coded so as to measure the level of discrimination. Such a comprehensive overview of gender-related variables and the data base’s specific focus on social institutions make the GID-DB unique, providing a tool-box for a wide range of analytical queries and allowing case-by-case adaptation to specific research or policy questions. [MIGS]

Gender Integration: Gender integration involves identifying and then addressing gender differences and inequalities during program and project design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Since the roles and relations of power between men and women affect how an activity is carried out, attending to these issues on an ongoing basis is essential. [USAID]

Gender Interests: This term denotes interests that women have because they are women. These include issues related to pregnancy and childbirth, nourishing and educating children, and building a safe community environment. [UNIFEM]

Gender Issues and Concerns: Issues, concerns and problems arising from the different roles by women and men, as well as those that arise from a questioning of the relationship between them. [NSCB, Philippines]

Gender Lens: Think of a gender lens as putting on spectacles. Out of one lens of the spectacles, you see the participation, needs and realities of women. Out of the other lens, you see the participation, needs and realities of men. Your sight or vision is the combination of what each eye sees.

Gender is about relationships between men and women. Gender equality is about equal valuing of women and men - of their similarities and their differences. We need equal, respectful partnerships between men and women to have happy, healthy families and communities in the same way that we need both eyes to see best.

 A gender lens can be many things. A form of gender lens that is gaining popularity is a tool that governments and NGOs can use in their regular operations. (eg. A gender lens for training programs would be used every time you develop training. A gender lens for planning could be used for developing each annual work plan. A gender lens for research and surveying can be routinely used in data collection.)

 This operational gender lens often has these characteristics:  

It is a list of questions, a checklist or a list of criteria.  

It is routinely used (see above examples).  

It is created in a participatory manner by those who will use it.  

It is recorded in words or in pictures where literacy is low.  

At least two copies are always kept in the same place in your organization’s files so people can find the gender lens to use it.  

The key people who do planning & program development are given copies of the gender lens and orientation in why and how to use it. (e.g. senior management staff and planners, pertinent stakeholders).  

A gender lens usually contains less than 10 points.  

Each point focuses on the distinct realities of men and women.  

Where appropriate, the distinct realities of girls and boys are included.  

Many gender lenses include: planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating. Other gender lenses focus strictly on one of these functions. (e.g. A gender lens can be used for monitoring the gender sensitivity of communication tools like posters, brochures, street theatre etc. Another gender lens can be created to guide project evaluators, etc.) [UNESCO, Bangkok]

Gender Mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming is not an end in itself but a strategy, an approach, a means to achieve the goal of gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities - policy development, research, advocacy/ dialogue, legislation, resource allocation, and planning, implementation and monitoring of programmes and projects. [UN WomenWatch]

Gender Mainstreaming: For IFAD as an institution, gender mainstreaming is the process by which reducing the gaps in development opportunities between women and men and working towards equality between them become an integral part of the organization's strategy, policies and operations, and the focus of continued efforts to achieve excellence. Thus gender mainstreaming is fully reflected, along with other core priorities, in the mindset of IFAD's leadership and staff, its values, resource allocations, operating norms and procedures, performance measurements, accountabilities, competencies, and its learning and improvement processes.

In IFAD's development activities, gender mainstreaming implies assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, and ensuring that both women's and men's concerns and experiences are taken fully into account in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all development activities. The aim is to develop interventions that overcome barriers preventing men and women from having equal access to the resources and services they need to improve their livelihoods. [IFAD]

Gender Mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experience an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres, such that inequality between men and women is not perpetuated. [OSCE]

Gender Mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming means the incorporation of a gender equality perspective in all development policies, strategies, and interventions at all levels and at all stages by the actors normally involved  and considering both men’s and women’s wishes, needs, and experience in design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and efforts. [DANIDA]

Gender Mainstreaming: Gender mainstreaming is the process of ensuring that women and men have equal access to and control over resources, development benefits and decision-making, at all stages of development process, projects, programs or policy. [World Bank]

Gender Mainstreaming: Is a method by which to eliminate inequality between the sexes. It is based on the principle that all planning, decision-making and evaluation processes should include an assessment of the positive or negative impact of a decision on men and women (so-called gender analysis). If this finds that one sex will be negatively affected, the body or person that adopts the decision must take steps to ensure that its harmful consequences are eliminated or at least minimised. [CZSO]

Gender Mainstreaming: Mainstreaming, from a gender perspective, is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies and programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s, as well as men’s concerns and experiences, an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality. [DRWA, India]

Gender Mainstreaming: In UNEP, gender mainstreaming involves ensuring that attention to gender equality is a central part of all environmental and sustainable development interventions, including analyses, policy advice, advocacy, legislation, research, and the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmes and projects.  Gender mainstreaming has been defined by the ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions, 1997/2 of 18 July 1997, as "a strategy for making women's, as well as men's, concerns and experiences an integral dimension in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality” [UNEP]

Gender Needs: Leading on from the fact that women and men have differing roles based on their gender, they will also have differing gender needs. These needs can be classified as either strategic or practical needs. [World Bank]

Gender Neutral: No influence on equality between men and women and their relations. [CZSO]

Gender Neutral: An approach/strategy/framework/programme may be defined as gender-neutral when the human dimension is not relevant, and thus gender is not an implication. [UNEP]

Gender-Neutral, Gender-Sensitive, and Gender Transformative: The primary objective behind gender mainstreaming is to design and implement development projects, programmes and policies that:

1. Do not reinforce existing gender inequalities- Gender Neutral

2. Attempt to redress existing gender inequalities- Gender Sensitive

3. Transformative: attempt to redefine women and men’s gender roles and relations-Gender Positive [MIGS]

Gender Perspective: A ‘gender perspective’ is a way of understanding how gender may be addressed or related to a particular issue, and applying this to the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of policies and programs. It is the notion that problems and solutions should be examined with sensitivity to the implications of gender in mind. [OSCE]

Gender Planning: Gender planning refers to the process of planning developmental programs and projects that are gender sensitive and which take into account the impact of differing gender roles and gender needs of women and men in the target community or sector. It involves the selection of appropriate approaches to address not only women and men’s practical needs, but also identifies entry points for challenging unequal relations (i.e., strategic needs) and for enhancing the gender-responsiveness of policy dialogue. [World Bank]

Gender Planning: An important underlying rationale of gender planning concerns the fact that men and women not only play different roles in society, with distinct levels of control over resources, but that they therefore often have different needs. As gender planning is done only on basis of gender needs, gender needs assessment is an important aspect of the whole process. Gender planning is undertaken with the objectives of achieving gender equity, equality and empowerment through practical and strategic gender needs. [DRWA, India]

Gender Polarization: refer to the belief that males and females are fundamentally different, with mutually exclusive scripts. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender Policies: Gender policies are divided into three categories depending on the extent to which they recognize and address gender issues:

Gender-aware-policies recognise that women as well as men are actors in development and that they are often constrained in a different way to men. Their needs, interests and priorities may differ and at times conflict. Gender aware-policies can be sub-divided into two policy types:

Gender-neutral policies approaches use the knowledge of gender differences in a given context to target and meet the practical needs of both women and men. Gender-neutral policies do not disturb existing gender relations.

Gender-specific policies use the knowledge of gender differences in a given situation to respond to the practical gender needs of either women or men. These policies do not address the existing division of resources and responsibilities.

Gender-blind policies are gender-blind fail to distinguish between the different needs of women and men in their formulation and implementation. Thus, such policies are biased in favour of existing gender relations and therefore are likely to exclude women or exacerbate existing inequalities between women and men.

Gender redistributive policies aim to transform the existing distribution of resources and responsibilities in order to create a more equal relationship between women and men. Women and men may be targeted or one group alone may be targeted by the intervention. Gender-redistributive policies focus mainly on strategic gender interests, but can plan to meet practical gender needs in a way which have transformatory potential (provide a supportive environment for women’s self empowerment). [MIGS]

Gender Policy, Types of: (1) Gender blind ignores different gender roles, responsibilities and capabilities. It is based on information derived from men’s activities and/or assumes those affected by the policy have the same needs and interests.

(2) Gender neutral: Not specifically aimed at either men or women and is assumed to affect both sexes equally. However it may actually be gender blind.

(3) Gender specific: Recognises gender difference and targets either men or women within existing roles and responsibilities

(4) Gender redistributive: Seeks to change the distribution of power and resources in the interest of gender equality. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gender Presentation: refers to the presentation of one's self either through personality or bodily habitus is what is perceived by others, and may be labelled pejoratively. It differs from gender identity which is subjective and internal to the individual. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender Reassignment: is another name for sex reassignment surgery that refers to a surgical procedures to alter a person"s physical anatomy to conform to that person"s psychological  gender identity. [Psychology Lexicon]

Gender-related Objectives: Gender-related objectives are those aims of a policy, programme or activity that function particularly to promote gender equality. [OSCE]

Gender Relations: Gender relations refer to the relationship and power distribution between women and men which characterise any specific gender system. [DANIDA]

Gender Relations: These are the social relationships between women and men. Gender relations are simultaneously relations of co-operation, connection, and mutual support, and of conflict, separation and competition, of difference and inequality. Gender relations are concerned with how power is distributed between the sexes. They create and reproduce systemic differences in men’s and women’s position in a given society. They define the ways in which responsibilities and claims are allocated and the way in which each are given a value. The term “gender relations” also refers to the relationships between people and their broader community, if these relationships vary with the sex of the people concerned. For example, the relationship between members of a village community and their local government entity is a gender relationship if men and women experience different benefits and controls from it. [MIGS]

Gender Relations: Gender relations are social relationships between people (women and men, women and women, men and men) that reflect and reproduce gender difference as constructed in a particular context, society and time. Gender relations intersect with other social relations based on age, class, ethnicity, race, sexuality and disability. [Commonwealth Secretariat]

Gender Relations and Gender Identity (Changes): Gender roles and characteristics in almost all societies have under-gone many recent adjustments and changes in response technological change, which has led to massive economic and social changes in all parts of the world. Changes in gender roles and relations often meet resistance, in particular from cultural forces of tradition. Anticipating and preparing for most likely forms of resistance in relation to change in activities or the status and position of women is a valuable part of a project’s gender strategy. Gender analysis can demonstrate that change in certain aspects of social roles and relations between women and men can improve the quality and conditions of life for everyone. [MIGS]

Gender Relations (Transforming): Changes in gender relations transform long-standing patterns; one change is acknowledged to bring others, and the nature and the degree of changes that occur in women’s and men’s lives as a result of successful interventions, explain why “transform” is the active construct chosen in this model. Transformation of this kind requires an understanding and parallel or concurrent attention to practical needs and strategic interests. The choice is not “one or the other”; the challenge is how to work with both -- strategically, and practically. [MIGS]

Gender Responsive Development Training: The use and integration of the Gender and Development (GAD) framework into the entire development planning cycle. It rests on the premise that introducing gender considerations makes development planning/programming more "people oriented or people focused." Gender is one source of heterogeneity along with education, ethnicity, class and other socio-demographic variables, all of which determine to a large extent the manner by which development plans and programs/projects impact on different groups of people. [NSCB, Philippines]

Gender Responsive Programs/Projects: Programs and projects that systematically incorporate or address gender concerns. They are of three types: a) integrated programs or projects; b) women’s components; and c) for women only programs or projects. [NSCB, Philippines]

Gender Roles: Gender roles are learned behaviors in a given society/community, or other special group, that condition which activities, tasks and responsibilities are perceived as male and female. Gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and by the geographical, economic and political environment. Changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political circumstances, including development efforts.

Both men and women play multiple roles in society. The gender roles of women can be identified as reproductive, productive and community managing roles, while men’s are categorized as either productive or community politics. Men are able to focus on a particular productive role and play their multiple roles sequentially. Women, in contrast to men, must play their roles simultaneously and balance competing claims on time for each of them. [World Bank]

Gender Roles: Gender roles are learned behaviours in a given society/community, or other special group, that condition which activities, tasks and responsibilities are perceived as male and female. Gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity, religion and by the geographical, economic and political environment. Changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political circumstances, including development efforts. Both men and women play multiple roles in society. The gender roles of women can be identified as reproductive, productive and community managing roles, while men’s are categorized as either productive or community politics. Men are able to focus on a particular productive role, and play their multiple roles sequentially. Women, in contrast to men, must play their roles simultaneously, and balance competing claims on time for each of them.

Productive roles: Refer to the activities carried out be men and women in order to produce goods and services either for sale, exchange, or to meet the subsistence needs of the family. For example in agriculture, productive activities include plating, animal husbandry and gardening that refers to farmers themselves, or for other people at employees.

Reproductive roles: Refer to the activities needed to ensure the reproduction of society's labour force. This includes child bearing, rearing, and care for family members such as children, elderly and workers. These tasks are done mostly by women.

Community managing role: Activities undertaken primarily by women at the community level, as an extension of their reproductive role, to ensure the provision and maintenance of scarce resources of collective consumption such as water, health care and education. This is voluntary unpaid work undertaken in ‘free’ time.

Community politics role: Activities undertaken primarily by men at the community level, organizing at the formal political level, often within the framework of national politics- This work is usually undertaken by men and may be paid directly or result in increased power and status.

Triple role/ multiple burdens: These terms refer to the fact that women tend to work longer and more fragmented days than men as they are usually involved in three different gender roles — reproductive, productive and community work. [MIGS]

Gender Roles: Gender roles refer to the activities performed by men and women in different situations and in different times and within the different cultures, classes, castes, ethnic groups etc. The roles of men and women are shaped by various forces such as social, cultural, economic, environmental, religious and political. The gender roles may change depending on the socio-cultural dynamics of the society. [DRWA, India]

Gender Roles: These roles concern the activities ascribed to men and women on the basis of perceived gender differences. While men are mainly identified with productive roles, women have a triple role: a productive role; a reproductive (or domestic) role; and a community managing role. Gender roles and responsibilities vary between cultures and can change over time. [NSCB, Philippines]

Gender Roles and Responsibilities: This is another term for the gendered division of labour. It tends to be used most frequently in those analytic frameworks, especially the Harvard Framework and it derivatives such as the POP Framework which emerged before the use of the term “gender relations” became widespread during the 90s. [MIGS]

Gender Sensitive: Taking into account the impact of policies, projects and programmes on men, women, boys and girls and trying to mitigate the negative consequences thereof. [UN-ESA]

Gender-sensitive Indicators: Gender-sensitive indicators provide information about progress in the move towards gender equality. An indicator summarises a large amount of information in a single figure, in such a way as to show an aspect of the relative advantage or disadvantage between men and women and give an indication of change over time. Indicators differ from statistical data in that, rather than merely presenting facts, indicators involve comparison. [OSCE]

Gender Sensitivity/Awareness: Gender sensitivity/awareness encompasses the ability to perceive, acknowledge and highlight existing gender differences, issues and inequalities and to incorporate a gender perspective into strategies and actions. [OSCE]

Gender Sensitivity: Gender sensitivity encompasses the ability to acknowledge and highlight existing gender differences, issues and inequalities and incorporate these into strategies and actions. [World Bank]

Gender Sensitization: Gender sensitization is the process of changing the stereotype mindset of men and women, a mindset that strongly believes that men and women are ‘unequal entities’. Its goal is essentially to create a value system in society that accords explicit and spontaneous recognition to the contribution of women in socio-economic development, and respects their wisdom; a system that makes women sensible and courageous enough to recognize their own contribution and make them feel proud of.

Gender sensitization should seek to change not only the impression  of men towards women i.e. the way men think of and treat women, but also the attitude of women i.e. the way women think of men and of themselves and their behaviour in this context. [DRWA, India]

Gender-specific Torture and ill Treatment: Gender often has a considerable impact on the form of torture that takes place, the circumstances in which it occurs, its consequences, and the availability of and access to remedies for its victims. Rape, threat of rape, electro-shock to the genitals and strip searching of women detainees by male guards are frequently the forms that such gender-specific torture. In societies where a woman's sexuality is a reflection of family "honour", these forms of torture and ill treatment are rarely reported. [MIGS]

Gender Statistics: Gender statistics refers to the collection and compilation of sex-disaggregated data on various socioeconomic phenomena, so as to be useful for the gender analysis, planning and development. Sex rather than gender is used for classification of data because the respondent’s sex is easy to identify in censuses and surveys and gender differences can be to a great extent captured through sex differentials. Gender statistics are designed to illuminate the conditions of women as well as men in order to generate awareness of the present situation, to guide policy, to mobilize action and to monitor progress towards improvement and to reveal the issues that need to be confronted.[STAT.FI]

Gender Stereotypes: Gender stereotypes, or gender bias, are generic attitudes, opinions or roles applied to a particular gender and which function as unjustifiably fixed assumptions. [OSCE]

Note: There are two very similar terms in current usage – Gender in Development (GID): Gender and Development (GAD). There is no substantive difference in the meaning of these two terms, which may be used interchangeably. However, UNDP favours the use of the GID formulation, as it has a slightly more “integrated” connotation. Of course, if gender perspectives were fully mainstreamed into development thinking and action, there would be no need for either designation, as it would be understood that gender inequality is a fact of socioeconomic life, and therefore must be addressed as integral to all development initiatives. [MIGS]

Gender Stratification: cuts across all aspects of social life, cuts across all social classes, and refers to men and women's unequal access to power, prestige, and property on the basis of their sex. [Del Mar]

Gender Training: Gender training refers to a facilitated process of developing awareness and capacity on gender issues, to bring about personal or organizational change for gender equality. “The generic aim of gender training…is to consciously introduce gender as a category of analysis (as opposed to description), to point to the differing needs and interests of women and men and their unequal representation, and to increase awareness and reduce the gender-bias which informs the actions of individuals and institutions.”

This kind of gender training commonly involves:

-Raising participants’ awareness of the different and unequal roles and responsibilities of women and men in any particular context

-Looking at ways that development interventions affect, and are affected by, differences and inequalities between women and men

-Equipping participants with knowledge and skills to understand gender differences and inequalities in the context of their work, and to plan and implement policies, programmes and projects to promote gender equality [MIGS]

Gender Violence: Gender violence includes any act or threat by men or male-dominated institutions that inflicts physical, sexual, or psychological harm on a woman or girl because of their gender. There is, however, no single definition of gender violence accepted internationally and there is much debate over the breadth of inclusion. Commonly, the acts or threats of such included in the definition are rape, sexual harassment, wife-battering, sexual abuse of girls, dowry-related violence, and non-spousal violence within the home. Other definitions extend to marital rape, acts such as female genital mutilation, female infanticide, and sex-selective abortion. In addition, certain definitions include ‘sexual exploitation’ such as enforced prostitution, trafficking of women and girls, and pornography. [MIGS]

Genocide: A crime defined in international law as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group of human beings. [HRUSA]

Genocide: The systematic, planned annihilation of an ethnic, racial or political group. [RSU]

GID: The GID or Gender in Development perspective emerged in the late 1980’s as an alternative to the prevailing Women in Development or WID approach. Unlike WID, which focused on women only, and called for their integration into development as producers and workers, GID focuses on the interdependence of men and women in society and on the unequal relations of power between them. The GID approach aims for a development process that transforms gender relations in order to enable women to participate on an equal basis with men in determining their common future. The GID approach emphasises the importance of women’s collective organisation for self empowerment.

GID (Condition and Position): Development projects generally aim to improve the condition of people’s lives. From a gender and development perspective, a distinction is made between the day-to-day condition of women’s lives and their position in society. In addition to the specific conditions which women share with men, differential access means women’s position in relation to men must also be assessed when interventions are planned and implemented.

Condition: This refers to the material state in which women and men live, and relates to their responsibilities and work. Improvements in women’s and men’s condition can be made by providing for example, safe water, credit, seeds, (i.e. practical gender needs).

Position: Position refers to women’s social and economic standing in society relative to men, for example, male/female disparities in wages and employment opportunities, unequal representation in the political process, unequal ownership of land and property, vulnerability to violence (i.e. strategic gender need/interests). [MIGS]

Glass Ceiling: The unspoken/unwritten limit that a woman (or a member of a minority group) may attain within an organization. [RSU]

Glass Ceiling: Appelbaum & Chambliss (1997:232) describe the glass ceiling as a seemingly invisible barrier to movement into the very top positions in business and government, which makes it difficult for women to reach the top of their professions. [Del Mar]

Glass Ceiling/Invisible Barrier: Traditional attitudes, assumptions and values that prevent anyone from playing a full part in social life. A barrier that women and men come up against in their professional promotion. A glass ceiling means preventing access to higher political, economic and academic positions, using formal and informal, hidden methods. The ceiling is the boundary for possibilities of promotion. The attempt to gain promotion to senior positions comes up against an invisible and difficult-to-define obstacle in the form of forces working against this ambition. [CZSO]

Global Wage: A condition of the global economy in which wages are forced to the lowest possible denominator through  worldwide competition for jobs. [Triton]

Globalization: Broadly refers to the expansion of global linkages, the organization of social life on a global scale, and the growth of a global consciousness, hence to the consolidation of world society. Such an ecumenical definition captures much of what the term commonly means, but its meaning is disputed. It encompasses several large processes; definitions differ in what they emphasize. Globalization is historically complex; definitions vary in the particular driving force they identify. The meaning of the term is itself a topic in global discussion; it may refer to "real" processes, to ideas that justify them, or to a way of thinking about them. The term is not neutral; definitions express different assessments of global change. Among critics of capitalism and global inequality, globalization now has an especially pejorative ring. [Emory University]

Globalization: The development of extensive worldwide patterns of economic, social, or political relationships between nations. [RSU]

Governance: Governance is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels. It comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. [UNDP]

Grim Rule of Three: A phrase used to describe the life chances of children in poverty. Specifically it details how the children of the poor are three time more likely to suffer diseases and death than those of the non-poor. [Triton]

Gynocracy/Gynecocracy: Government run by women; society ruled by women. [Answers.com]

Handicap: A disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or disability, that limits or prevents the fulfillment of a role that is normal, depending on age, sex, social and cultural factors, for that individual. Handicap is therefore a function of the relationship between disabled persons and their environment. It occurs when they encounter cultural, physical or social barriers which prevent their access to the various systems of society that are available to other citizens. Thus, handicap is the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the life of the community on an equal level with others. [CLRA]

Hegemonic Masculinity: Socially and historically constructed idea of what men ought to be, in a way a structure that links power to masculinity. [MIGS]

Hermaphrodite: A person with a combination of male and female internal and external genitalia. [Triton]

Heteronormativity: The term refers to heterosexuality being the norm and an assumption of a person’s heterosexuality is a part of it. It can also be claimed to include an injunction according to which people ought to be heterosexual. Heteronormativity shapes what we know and how we know it. [MIGS]

Heterosexism: Belief in the inherent superiority of heterosexuality. The concept refers to power used over the other on the base of an ideology dictating both compulsory heterosexuality and certain types of masculinities as the ideal forms. Heterosexism situates other types of masculinities - and more commonly femininities - in less valued positions, and pressurizes individuals to conform to binary gender roles, positions, and to adopt traits associated with heterosexuality. Thus, heterosexism is about power rather than sexual orientation. [MIGS]

Heterosexual: Persons for whom their sexual orientation is exclusively or predominantly directed to persons of the other sex. [MIGS]

Heterosexuality: Refers to being emotionally and/or sexually attracted to the opposite sex. [Triton]

Heterosexuality: An orientation in sexual activity towards people of the opposite sex. [RSU]

Heterosexuality (Compulsory): The assumption that women and men are innately attracted to each other emotionally and sexually and that heterosexuality is normal and universal. This institutionalization of heterosexuality in our society leads to an institutionalized inequality of power not only between heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals, but also between men and women, with far reaching consequences. [MIGS]

Hidden Sexuality Curriculum (Hidden Heterogender Curriculum): The terms refer to the invisibility of the curriculum we use while dealing with issues related to sexuality. They also tell us that, in addition to invisibility, the curriculum can be unconscious. Heterogender further tells us about the close connection between sexuality constructions and gendering. [MIGS]

Homogamy: The tendency for individuals to select mates from similar social backgrounds. [RSU]

Homophobia: The irrational fear of homosexuals. [Triton]

Homophobia: Fear, hatred or loathing of homosexuals. [RSU]

Homophobia: Literally a fear of homosexuality. A phobia is an irrational fear that runs contrary to cultural norms, but homophobia is most often used to designate a prejudicial hatred of homosexuality comparable to racism. Homophobia can be and often is institutionalized in antigay laws, policies, and the pronouncements of church and state. It also manifests itself in individuals, where its effects can range from verbal abuse to gay bashing and even murder. One of its most unfortunate manifestations is in homosexuals who have been convinced by society that their affections and desires are monstrous and deserving of punishment. [MIGS]

Homosexual: Refers to persons for whom their sexual orientation is predominantly or exclusively directed to a person of the same sex. [MIGS]

Homosexuality: Refers to being emotionally and/or sexually attracted to the same sex. [Triton]

Homosexuality: Having sexual preference for persons of the same sex. [RSU]

Honour Killings: Acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. [MIGS]

Household: A household is a basic economic unit, in census guides defined as one or more persons voluntarily living together, having meals prepared together and benefiting from housekeeping shared in common. Commonly economics, unlike anthropology, does not make a significant distinction between ‘the household’ and ‘the family’, although in considering gender and economic relations, the processes of household and family formation have distinct features. The household is analogous to the firm as the basic economic unit. [OECD]

Household: A census term that refers to all people occupying a housing unit. [RSU]

Housework (Domestic Labour): Unpaid work carried on in and around the home such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. Studies show that the bulk of this labor is carried out by women despite the predominance of dual-income families. [RSU]

Human Dignity: This principle of human rights signifies that each individual, regardless of age, birth, color, creed, disability, ethnic origin, familial status, gender, language, marital status, political or other opinion, public assistance, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, deserves to be honored, esteemed, and respected. [HRUSA]

Human Rights: Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education. Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties. [MIGS]

Human Rights: The rights people have simply because they are human beings, regardless of their ability, citizenship, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, or sexuality; human rights become enforceable when they are codified as conventions, covenants, or treaties, as they become recognized as customary international law, or as they are accepted in national or local law. [HRUSA]

Human Rights with a Gender Perspective: This perspective recognizes that differences in life experiences based on gender often results in social, economic, political, and other inequities for women and girls. This view, when applied to policy development and service delivery, promotes positive change in the lives of women and girls. For example, home-based English as a Second Language program would allow immigrant mothers who care for their children at home to learn English and function in their new surroundings. [MIGS]

Hypermasculinity: Exaggerated image of hegemonic masculinity, mainly in media. It over-emphasises the ideals set out for men hence reinforcing them. [MIGS]

Hypothesis: A statement of prediction that sets forth the basis for testing the relationship between variables in an attempt to link theory to reality. [Triton]

Hypothesis: A tentative statement about a given state of affairs that predicts a relationship between the variables, usually put forward as a basis for empirical testing. [RSU]

 

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