Annex C. Glossary
Child marriage: is defined as marriage before the age of 18 (UNICEF, n.d.).
Customary, religious or traditional practices or laws: are defined by the customs, religions and traditional practices observed among a specific community.
Gender-responsiveness: means create an environment that reflects an understanding of the realities of women’s lives and addresses them.
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C): all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons (World Health Organization, 2008).
Discrimination against women: Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women (CEDAW).
Domestic violence: Violence that occurs within the private sphere, generally between individuals who are related through blood, intimacy or law (CEDAW).
Equal access: Equal opportunities to have access to resources, assets, services, training and education opportunities, markets, sources of income and decent employment opportunities (FAO).
Equal opportunity: Equality in employment regardless of race, skin colour, sex, religion and so forth; non-discriminatory practices in hiring employees (UN).
Forced marriage: Forced marriage describes a marriage that takes place without the free or valid consent of one or both of the partners and involves either physical or emotional duress (UN).
Gender-based violence: Any harmful act directed against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of their gender or sex (UN).
Gender gap: Disparity between women and men, and girls and boys, in their access to resources, education, health services or power (WFP).
Gender norms: Ideas about how men and women should be and act. Most such “rules” are learned and internalised early in life, which creates an inter-generational cycle of gender socialisation and stereotyping (UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women).
Missing women: this concept was first introduced by Amartya Sen in 1990. He hypothesised that over 100 million women were missing due to the excess mortality of women from inequality and neglect. The “missing women” phenomenon is captured by the shortfall in the number of girls aged 0-4, relative to their expected survival rate in the absence of sex-selective abortions, female infanticide and with similar levels of health and nutrition to boys, correcting for natural biological and physiological differences.
Reproductive health: state of complete physical, mental and social well-being (and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity) in all matters relating to the reproductive system and its functions and processes (UN).
Sexual harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature (UNESCO).
Unmet need for family planning: the gap between women’s reproductive intentions and their contraceptive behaviour, defined as the proportion of currently married or in-union women of reproductive age (15-49) who want to cease or delay childbearing but are not using any method of contraception (UNDP, 2018).
Violence against women: any act of gender-based violence 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 (Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995). The SIGI captures the proportion of women who have ever had a partner and who have experienced intimate physical and/or sexual violence at least once in their lifetime.