Glossary
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
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V
W
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Z
C
Close personal relations
refer to those between persons who are or have been in a partner relationship, regardless of whether the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim or not.
Coercive control over women
involves the abuse of power, use of threats, force, or other forms of coercion, fraud or misrepresentation designed to control a woman's behavior and life.
D
Domestic violence
implies harassment, insulting, endangering safety, bodily injury, sexual or other psychological, physical, or economic violence that causes a feeling of insecurity, endangerment or fear. This includes threats of such actions against a spouse, parents or children, or against other persons living in a marital or cohabiting union or shared household. It also applies to a current or former spouse, cohabiting partner, or persons who have a child together or are in close personal relationships, regardless of whether the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim or not.
E
Economic violence
means any action that restricts or prevents the disposal of personal income and financial resources needed to maintain a shared household and care for a child, thereby causing economic dependence of the victim.
F
Female genital mutilation
is the cutting, infibulation, or any other mutilation, in whole or in part, of the female external genitalia, including the labia majora, labia minora, or clitoris.
Femicides
represent the most severe form of violence against women and girls. They are manifested in many different forms. The root causes lie in the historically unequal power distribution between men and women. Systemic gender-based discrimination acts as another primary root cause. The absence or non-implementation of legal frameworks promoting gender equality worsens the problem. This failure contributes to unequal access to education, healthcare, and social protection. It also restricts access to paid work, property ownership, finances, and other spheres. Unequal opportunities directly increase the risk of women becoming victims of violence.
Forced abortion and forced sterilization
means terminating a pregnancy or performing a surgical procedure on a woman without her prior informed consent, understanding, and written permission, which has the purpose or consequence of ending her capacity for natural reproduction.
Forced marriage
means the act of forcing, luring, deceiving, threatening, or otherwise coercing an adult or a child into entering a marriage or non-marital union.
G
Gender
is a term that refers to the social and cultural construct of being a man or a woman. However, some people do not identify within the binary male-female system. Gender exists independently of sex, so an individual's gender does not always correspond to the sex assigned to them at birth.
Gender-based motive
is a term used to establish the basis of the statistical definition of gender-based killings of women and girls (femicide) and refers to the root causes — such as stereotypical gender roles, discrimination against women and girls, inequality, and unequal power relations between women and men in society — that characterize the specific context in which these killings occur. These factors can lead to violence by perpetrators when a woman's behavior is perceived as a departure from societal norms or stereotypical gender roles. In this context, the term "gender-based motive" does not refer to the subjective intent of the perpetrator to commit the murder, but rather to the underlying, structural causes. The perpetrator's subjective motive — such as, for example, bias or hatred toward women — may be present in certain cases, in addition to the "gender-based motivation."
Gender-based violence
against women means violence against a woman because of her gender. It leads to or can lead to physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm or suffering. It includes acts of direct and indirect threats and intimidation. It encompasses coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty. It applies regardless of whether these acts occur in public or private life.
H
Human trafficking
is an act whereby, through the use of force, serious threat, leading the victim into delusion or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, abuse of one's position or the state of pregnancy, helplessness, or physical or mental incapacity of another person, or by giving or receiving money or other benefit to obtain the consent of a person having control over another person, or by other means recruits, transports, transfers, buys, sells, harbours, or receives persons for the purpose of exploitation through prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, pornography, forced labour or servitude, slavery, forced marriages, forced pregnancy, illegal adoption or similar relations, begging or exploitation for a legally prohibited activity, or the illicit removal of human body parts.
I
Intimate partner violence
implies behavior by a current or former spouse or partner that causes physical, sexual, psychological, or economic violence.
M
Minor/child marriages
means a form of forced marriage because it is considered that a minor cannot make a decision whether to enter into a marriage and start a family, and that early marriage can lead to lasting emotional, physical, and psychological suffering. Furthermore, for girls, marrying too early destroys opportunities for education and economic prospects and contributes to the increase of poverty in many communities worldwide. This act is considered child abuse in international documents and is a criminal offense as such.
O
Online sexual harassment
means unwanted verbal, non-verbal, or other conduct of a sexual nature, which has the purpose or effect of violating dignity or creating a threatening, hostile, humiliating, or intimidating environment, access, or practice.
P
Perpetrator
is any physical or legal person who has committed violence or has failed to take action to prevent violence.
Physical violence
means any act involving the use of physical force or an action that is detrimental to the health and the physical and psychological integrity of the victim.
Psychological violence
means any behavior involving the use of coercion, intimidation, or threats, which causes a feeling of fear, endangerment, anxiety or a violation of the dignity and psychological integrity of the victim.
R
Reintegration
is a continuous process implemented by state institutions and civil society organizations, aimed at the full inclusion/return to society (integration) and recovery (rehabilitation) of women who have survived some form of gender-based violence. This process means that a woman who has survived violence will be rehabilitated and reintegrated from a psychological, social, legal, and economic aspect in order to ensure her "return" to her primary environment (family and local community), and, in a broader context, "return/re-inclusion" into society by providing psychosocial services, legal support, healthcare, and economic empowerment. Reintegration also includes providing help and support to the children and/or the family of the victim.
Risk assessment
is an evaluation and analysis tool conducted by a representative or professional to determine the level of risk of recurring violence or potential danger of homicide for victims of domestic violence, based on the perpetrator's recent actions and behavior, as well as changes in their behavior. Competent institutions are obligated to assess the risk of serious danger to the life and physical and mental integrity of the victim and their family members, and to assess the risk of recurring violence in order to manage the risk and provide measures for coordinated assistance and victim protection. The risk assessment is conducted urgently within the first 12 hours of reporting.
S
Sex
is the classification of people into male and female. At birth, babies are assigned a sex, usually based on the appearance of their external anatomy. A person's sex, as defined by biology, is a combination of bodily characteristics that includes: chromosomes, hormones, internal and external reproductive organs, and secondary sex characteristics. Babies whose sex cannot be classified as either male or female are classified as intersex
Sexual harassment
means any verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity, especially when creating a threatening, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment.
Sexual violence and rape
means any action of a sexual nature involving any bodily part or object on the body of another person without his/her consent. Sexual violence also exists when another person is induced without consent to engage in acts of a sexual nature with a third party. Consent must be expressed voluntarily as a result of the person's free will.
Specialized services for women victims of violence
are support services that design and offer a set of services tailored to meet the specific needs of victims of various forms of violence against women, and as such, they are not available to the general public. Although these specialized services may be managed and funded by the state, they are mostly provided and delivered by non-governmental organizations working in this field. Specialized services include shelters for women victims of violence, crisis centers for rape victims, centers for victims of sexual violence, helplines, and counseling centers (crisis intervention, psychological counseling, free legal aid). The specialized services are provided free of charge, in a manner that protects the privacy, dignity, and reputation of the victims. These specialized services are accessible to all victims, including their children, regardless of the victim's willingness to testify in proceedings against the perpetrator.
Stalking
means any intentional repeated threatening behavior towards another person that causes the person to fear for their safety. This encompasses repetitive behavior of a threatening nature directed at a specific person, which results in instilling a feeling of fear in the victim. This dangerous behavior may consist of repeatedly following the victim, engaging in unwanted communication with the victim through all available means, including modern communication tools and computer technology, as well as making the victim aware that they are being observed. Furthermore, stalking includes physically following the victim, appearing at their workplace, at sports or educational venues at the same time as the victim, as well as virtual victim stalking on social media. Moreover, stalking may also consist of various delictual behavior, such as destruction of property, leaving subtle traces of contact with the victim's personal belongings, targeting pets, creating a false identity, or spreading false information online.
T
Temporary protection measures against violence
aim to protect victims from future violence, but at the same time, they do not impede the protection provided by criminal legislation. In this sense, they are treated as a parallel, less intrusive, and positive way of protection, i.e. ensuring the safety of the victim. It is fundamental for these temporary protection measures to provide immediate and prompt assistance to the victim, depending on the escalation, namely the scope and type of violence. They are imposed by the Court, based on a previously submitted proposal by: the Ministry of Internal Affairs; the Center for Social Work; a parent or guardian (if the victim is a minor); the victim personally. The Law on Prevention and Protection from Violence against Women and Domestic Violence provides for 11 temporary protection measures. In addition to the temporary measures, there are also urgent protection measures aimed at eliminating an immediate and serious threat to the life and physical and psychological integrity of the victim and members of their family. Urgent protection measures include: removing the perpetrator from the home and prohibiting the perpetrator from approaching the victim's home, which are issued upon the proposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, without the victim's consent.
V
Victim
is any natural person who is exposed to any form of violence
Victimization
is a phenomenon where a person behaves or acts harmfully against another person (the victim), thereby causing various psychological and physical consequences. Victims of gender-based violence frequently experience secondary victimization, which refers to additional repetition of harmful behavior by either the perpetrator or other individuals. Examples include blaming the victim as the guilty party or as the one causing the violence, as well as inappropriate behavior by medical staff, the judicial system, police officers, or other individuals and organizations to which the victim has turned for help. Victims of gender-based violence are almost always exposed to secondary victimization, especially by members of the communities in which they live.
Violence against
women constitutes a violation of human rights and discrimination against women. It refers to all gender-based violence acts that result in or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological, or economic harm or suffering of women including both direct and indirect threats and intimidation of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.
W
Women who have survived violence
are women and girls who have managed to leave a violent environment and break the cycle of violence, regardless of whether the violent behavior has occurred once or multiple times.
