Glossary

While sex refers to biological characteristics and differences, common to all societies and cultures, gender is related to the way that biological difference is constructed socially and culturally.

Gender analysis is an analytical tool to identify, understand and describe gender differences and the relevance of gender roles, power dynamics and power structures in a specific context.

A gender analysis is a pre-condition for incorporating a gender perspective in projects, programs and institutions. In a gender analysis, one observes a project’s context through a “gender lens” and proceeds to conduct an analysis of problems and needs, by identifying the differentiated perspectives of women and men and other gender identities in relation to their specific problems, objectives, and potentials. Its main characteristic is a differentiation between practical needs, whose achievement ensures the satisfaction of basic needs and strategic interests that aim to transform societal structures by overcoming gender-based inequalities. Conducting a gender analysis is a minimum standard for all programmes of Mission 21.

(See also: HEKS/EPER, Gender Implementation Guidelines, 2016, p.10)

Gender equality is based on the concepts of no discrimination, human equivalency, and recognition of differences. Equality does not mean that women, men and other gender identities are the same, but rather that opportunities, rights and responsibilities must not depend on the sex with which one is born, nor on one’s sexual and gender identity. All people must enjoy the same human rights, goods valued by the society, opportunities, resources and benefits of human development. The criteria of visibility, recognition, participation, access and control, and representation help us analyse how these principles of equality are expressed in practice.

A significant difference between gender equality and gender equity is that equality is an universal legal principal, recognized by international human rights documents such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and therefore it is a legal obligation that states cannot evade.

Gender equity implies a treatment of women, men, and other gender identities, according to the respective needs of each, which may be identical or differentiated, depending on the circumstances. Equity is a principle that complements equality and is instrumental, as it contributes to achievement of equality.

Gender expression, unlike gender identity which is an internal experience and understanding of one’s gender, refers to the way in which an individual outwardly presents their gender. These expressions of gender are typically through the way one chooses to dress, speak, or generally conduct themselves socially. Our perceptions of gender typically align with the socially constructed binary of masculine and feminine forms of expression. The way an individual expresses their gender is not always indicative of their gender identity. (Definition of WHO)

Gender justice is expressed through equality and balanced power relationships between women and men and the elimination of oppressive institutional, cultural and interpersonal systems of privilege that sustain discrimination.

Gender mainstreaming is the process of addressing gender from the beginning to the end of any planned action. It is a strategy for making women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, and implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic, and societal spheres.

People play different roles in life, which are regulated by socially constructed rules that establish ways of being and feeling, speaking and thinking. One such role that of gender, has historically placed women in a position of exclusion and subordination. These inequalities based on gender persist in practically all spheres of life. In almost all areas and fields, the variables of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression explain the significant differences in access to resources, decision-making structures, and enjoyment of rights and responsibilities by women, men, and other gender identities.

The concept of intersectionality enables us to analyse how social identities based on gender, age, ethnicity, class, and other characteristics are present and intersect in a single person, generating different types of overlapping discrimination. For example, an individual may be a woman in a specific society, while also, simultaneously, young (category of age), indigenous (category of ethnicity), etc.

Sexual orientation refers to a person’s physical, romantic, and /or emotional attraction towards other people. Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity. Sexual orientation is comprised of three elements: sexual attraction, sexual behaviour, and sexual identity. Sexual orientation is most often defined in terms of heterosexuality to identify those who are attracted to individuals of a different sex from themselves, and homosexuality to identify those who are attracted to individuals of the same sex as themselves. (Definition of WHO, 2016)