Appendix A. Key terms and definitions

The socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for individuals based on the sex they were assigned at birth.

Source: IOM, 2023a.

The equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of all individuals of all genders. Equality does not mean that all individuals are the same, but that rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on one’s sex assigned at birth, physical sex characteristics, gender assigned by society, gender identity or gender expression. Gender equality also requires that the interests, needs and priorities of all individuals should be taken into consideration.

Source: IOM, 2023a.

Gender norms are ideas about how men and women should be and act. We internalize and learn these “rules” early in life. This sets-up a life-cycle of gender socialization and stereotyping. Put another way, gender norms are the standards and expectations to which gender identity generally conforms, within a range that defines a particular society, culture and community at that point in time.

Source: UN-Women, n.d.

A set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual sex or perceived sex or gender.

Source: IOM, 2021a.

[A term] used by some people whose gender identity differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Trans, transgender and non-binary are “umbrella terms” representing a variety of words that describe an internal sense of gender that differs from the sex assigned at birth and the gender attributed to the individual by society, whether that individual identifies as a man, a woman, simply “trans” or “transgender,” with another gender or with no gender.

Source: IOM, 2021a.

An adjective describing people whose gender identity falls outside the male–female binary. Non-binary is an umbrella term that encompasses a wide variety of gender experiences, including people with a specific gender identity other than man or woman, people who identify as two or more genders (bigender or pan/polygender) and people who don’t identify with any gender (agender).

Source: IOM, 2021a.