Research glossary

Also known as female homicide, is generally understood to involve intentional murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killing of women or girls. In South Africa, it is defined as the killing of a female person, or a person perceived as female, on the basis of gender identity, whether committed within a domestic relationship, interpersonal relationship or by any other person, or whether perpetrated or tolerated by the State or its agents. Intimate femicide is defined as the murder of women by intimate partners, i.e. a current or former husband or boyfriend, same-sex partner, or a rejected would-be lover.

Feminism is the belief in and advocacy for equal rights, safety, and opportunities for all genders. It challenges systems that normalise inequality, gender stereotypes, and violence against women and marginalised groups.

Feminism is not about “hating men.” It is about dignity, safety, and equal access to justice, education, healthcare, and leadership.

Filicide is the killing of a child by a parent. These cases may involve severe domestic violence, coercive control, revenge against a partner, or mental health crises.

Each case is complex and requires careful investigation. Families affected by filicide need trauma-informed support.

Filicide is “the killing of children by parents. Research has demonstrated that when fathers kill their children it is often in the context of a history of domestic violence and retaliation against their female partner for leaving or attempting to leave the relationship.

Financial abuse occurs when someone controls or harms another person through money or access to resources. It is common in domestic violence and can trap someone in an abusive relationship.

Examples include taking someone’s income, blocking access to bank accounts, forcing debt in their name, preventing them from working, or monitoring every cent they spend.

Financial abuse happens when someone uses money or property to control or exploit someone else. It can involve:

taking someone's money or property without permission
withholding or limiting money to control someone
pressuring someone to sign documents
forcing someone to sell things or change a will
Most forms of financial abuse are crimes, including theft and fraud

the fi rst person the complainant told about the rape incident and who gives testimony in the trial.

Forced marriage happens when one or both people do not freely consent to the marriage. Pressure may be emotional, financial, physical, or based on threats.

Forced marriage is a human rights violation and disproportionately affects women and girls. Consent must always be freely given.

This occurs when parents or others arrange for and force a minor to marry someone. Force may occur by exerting pressure or by ordering a minor to get married, and may be for dowry-related or other reasons. Forced marriage is a form of GBV because the minor is not allowed to, or is not old enough to, make an informed choice.

Marriage that takes place without the free and informed consent of one or both individuals getting married, and sometimes occurs through emotional coercion, threats, physical violence or abduction. Forced marriage is not the same as arranged marriage, in which the individuals consent to the marriage

Forced marriage is a marriage in which one and/or both parties have not personally expressed their full and free consent to the union. A child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one and/or both parties have not expressed full, free and informed consent

Forced sterilization occurs when a person is sterilized after expressly refusing the procedure, without her knowledge or is not given an opportunity to provide consent. These procedures are related to an individual’s ability to reproduce through surgical procedures such as tubal ligation which is a surgical procedure for female sterilization.

Forced sterilization is a human rights violation and can be considered an act of genocide, gender-based violence, discrimination, and torture.

- The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (UN, 1993) listed some forms of violence as
follows:
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the family, including harmful battering, sexual
abuse of female, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation and other traditional practices which
are harmful to women.
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the community, including rape, sexual abuse, and
sexual harassment in the workplace, educational institutions or elsewhere, trafficking in women by forcing
them into prostitution.
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the state, wherever it occurs.
- The two terms "forms" and "types" of gender-based violence (or abuse) are often used interchangeably, even
in the international literature. However, it has been approved in the discussion sessions on the use of the word
"form" referring to the framework in which violence occurs and the word "type" to refer to the means used to
impose authority. For example, if we say Ms X was beaten by her husband, physical violence would be the type
of violence and domestic or marital violence would be the form.

A sexual deviancy which involves bumping, touching, or rubbing against others for sexual satisfaction against
a non-consenting person, typically taking place in a crowded place from which the perpetrator can easily
escape (National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth, 2003).

GBV prevention refers to taking action to stop GBV from occurring. Some
examples include: scaling up activities that promote gender equality
or working with communities, particularly men and boys, to address
practices that contribute to GBV.

GBV response refers to assistance and services that aim to save lives
and contribute to recovery or resilience after GBV has occurred, such as
immediate medical and psychosocial care for GBV survivors or livelihoods
and education programmes for mothers of children born of rape.

GBV risk mitigation refers to actions aimed at reducing the risk of exposure
to GBV. For example, ensuring that appropriate lighting and security
patrols are in place from the onset of establishing displacement camps to
reduce exposure to GBV for women and girls.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is an umbrella term for any harmful act that
is perpetrated against a person’s will and that is based on socially ascribed
(i.e. gender) differences between males and females. It includes acts that
inflict physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering, threats of such acts,
coercion and other deprivations of liberty. These acts can occur in public or
in private.

The term GBV is most commonly used to underscore how systemic
inequality between males and females—which exists in every society in
the world—acts as a unifying and foundational characteristic of most
forms of violence perpetrated against women and girls. GBV can be
compounded by multiple and intersecting factors of discrimination, such
as discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, or disability. Some
examples would be women and girls with disabilities being identified as
“easy targets” by offenders, as well as the additional barriers they face
to disclose situations of violence. It is also important to note that persons
with non-conforming sexual orientations or gender identities may also be
extremely vulnerable to GBV in a wide range of contexts.

Gang rape is sexual violence committed by more than one perpetrator against a person who does not consent. It is an extreme form of violence and often involves intimidation, humiliation, and physical harm.

Gang rape cases can involve social pressure or group dynamics that encourage violence. The responsibility lies entirely with the perpetrators.

Gaslighting is psychological manipulation where someone makes another person doubt their memory, feelings, or reality to gain control.

Examples include saying, “That never happened,” “You’re too sensitive,” or “You’re imagining things,” especially after harmful behaviour. Over time, gaslighting can cause deep confusion and loss of self-trust.