Glossary
Cisgender
Used to describe a person ‘whose gender identity aligns with the sex that was assigned to them at birth’ (1 p 133).
Cisnormativity
An ideology that implies that cisgender experiences are the norm, and privileges these over the experiences of people with other gender identities. This includes the assumption of the ‘gender binary’: ‘that all people are one of two distinct and complementary genders (man and woman), and that this corresponds to their sex assigned at birth’ (1 p 133).
Gender equality
Means equality for people of all genders, including women, men, people with intersex variations, and trans and gender diverse people, and that a person’s rights, responsibilities, opportunities and outcomes should not depend on their gender (1, 163). Gender equality ‘requires the redistribution of power, resources and responsibilities between men and women in particular, and the transformation of the underlying causes and structures that create and sustain gender inequality’ (1 p 134).
Gender-based violence
Violence that is directed at someone because of their gender. ‘It describes violence rooted in gender-based power inequalities and gender-based discrimination. While people of all genders can experience gender-based violence, the term is most often used to describe violence against women and girls, because the majority of cases of gender-based violence are perpetrated by men against women’ (164 p 3).
Gender-transformative
Approaches that aim to achieve gender equality by critically examining and explicitly challenging harmful gender roles, practices, norms, structures, and systems (1). Using a gender-transformative approach helps to centre the importance of engaging with men in efforts to prevent violence against women and gender-based violence in ways which do not collude with or reinforce the gendered power dynamics that drive men’s violence in the first place.
Gendered drivers of violence against women
Four specific expressions of gender inequality that the evidence base shows drive or cause men’s violence against women:
- the condoning of violence against women
- men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence in public and private life
- rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity
- male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control (1).
The gendered drivers derive from a broader context of gender inequality that manifests in individual attitudes and behaviours, in intimate, peer and family relationships, and across communities, organisations, societal norms and legal, governmental, political, institutional and other structures. These drivers must be challenged and changed at each of these levels in order to prevent violence against women.
Heteronormativity
An ideology that implies that heterosexuality is the only ‘normal’ sexual orientation, privileges these experiences over the experiences of people with other sexualities, and ‘assumes a linear relationship between sex, gender and sexuality (for example, that all men are heterosexual and cisgendered)’ (164 p 4). Heteronormativity assumes that all people are either a man or a woman, and ‘includes a suite of cultural, legal and institutional practices that work to explicitly privilege relationships between ‘men’ and ‘women’ as the only ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ form of relationship’ (6 p 10).
Masculinities
‘The socially learnt roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that any given society considers appropriate for men’, that vary between cultures and can change over time (10). Masculinities are not confined to the attitudes and behaviours of individual men – they can be reinforced by people of all genders, and they extend to broader societal structures and systems that uphold expectations of how men should behave (10).
Primary prevention
Applies whole-of-population approaches to change the conditions that allow violence against women to thrive. These conditions include individual attitudes and behaviours, social norms, organisational cultures and practices, policies, laws and institutions. Primary prevention addresses these conditions in mutually-reinforcing ways across the life course, in all the different places where people live, learn, work, socialise and play.
Reinforcing factors
Things that on their own do not predict violence against women, but may influence the likelihood, prevalence or dynamics in different settings and contexts in which the gendered drivers are present. These reinforcing factors are:
- condoning of violence in general
- experience of, and exposure to, violence
- factors that weaken prosocial behaviour (such as alcohol use)
- resistance and backlash to prevention and gender equality efforts (1).
Resistance
Used to refer to resistance, opposition or hostility to progressive social change (33). Resistance to gender equality and prevention of violence against women is most often expressed by those who most benefit from the status quo (i.e. men), but can be expressed by people of all genders. Resistance encapsulates a broad range of behaviours, ‘from passive blocking techniques which seek to maintain the status quo, to strategies which aim to minimise or co-opt change efforts, to active, aggressive opposition in order to restore the old order’ (33 p 3).
Whole-of-population approach
A population level or whole-population approach goes beyond addressing individual behaviours to consider the broader social, political and economic factors that drive violence (1). While focusing on strategies necessary to address the common drivers of violence against women, whole-of-population approaches recognise the diversity of experiences and needs across communities. Such strategies acknowledge that particular manifestations of violence, and violence against particular groups of women, gender diverse people, and men can have a range of other drivers and contributing factors (1). A universal, or whole-of-population, framework for prevention, while not designed to focus in depth on any one specific form of violence or on violence perpetrated against particular population subgroups, must nevertheless embed an intersectional approach (1).