The WAVE glossary provides an overview of key terminologies relevant to the field of addressing violence against women and girls. By navigating alphabetically, you can find concise definitions below. Please note that while the list is comprehensive, it is not exhaustive, and we are committed to continuous updates to ensure its relevance and completeness.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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By-and-For
By-and-for organisations are those that are led by women with intersecting identities and for women with intersecting identities. Their work is grounded in the lived experiences of women who hold multiple, intersecting identities and whose experiences of violence and abuse are shaped by these interlocking factors. Within this wider definition, there are multiple specialist forms of by-and-for provision, each rooted in the lived experiences and cultural knowledge of particular groups of women, such as Black and minoritised women, women with disabilities, and survivors with other protected characteristics.
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D
Domestic violence (DV)
Domestic violence means all acts of physical, sexual, coercive, psychological, or economic violence that occur within the family or domestic unit or between former or current spouses or partners, whether or not the perpetrator shares or has shared the same residence with the victim.1
E
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G
Gender backlash
Gender backlash can be understood as deliberate, organised attempts to roll back established commitments, rights and achievements in gender equality, women’s rights and women’s empowerment. It usually takes the form of orchestrated, often virulent political opposition to the rights of women, girls and people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and to the actors who champion them. Backlash tends to operate in cycles. In many instances, it responds to prior waves of feminist activism and/or advances. It can lead to policy backsliding that removes formal commitments or dismantles policies to advance gender equality. It can also involve more gradual processes that undermine the implementation of commitments.1302 This backlash increasingly manifests through gender-neutral policy frameworks that have moved beyond fringe far-right politics into mainstream discourse, obscuring the gendered nature of violence and presenting gender equality measures as either unnecessary expenditure or potentially harmful to men and society.
Gender-based violence (GBV)
Gender-based violence against women means violence that is directed against a woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately.3 Gender-based violence is understood to be a form of discrimination and a violation of the fundamental freedoms of the victim and includes violence in close relationships, sexual violence (including rape, sexual assault and harassment), trafficking in human beings, slavery, and different forms of harmful practices, such as forced marriages, female genital mutilation and so-called ‘honour crimes’. Women victims of gender-based violence and their children often require special support and protection.4
Gender-specific approach
Article 18 §3 of the Istanbul Convention recognises violence against women as gender-based violence. As such, all measures to eliminate violence against women must be implemented using a gender-specific approach, meaning a gendered understanding of the violence experienced by women, its specific dynamics and consequences, and should focus on the survivors’ empowerment.
General support services
General support services are offered by public authorities which provide long-term help and are not exclusively designed for the benefit of victims only but serve the public at large. General support services include public welfare services such as housing services, employment or unemployment services, public education and training services, public psychological and legal counselling services, but also financial support services to address, when necessary, the specific needs of victims of the forms of violence.5
Generic support services
Generic support services (both non-profit and for-profit) refer to victim support organisations providing services to all victims of crime, without a specific focus on violence against women. They lack a gendered understanding of violence and are not explicitly gender-specific, adopting approaches aimed at the family unity.6 They are often structured around and focused on the wider “market” of well-being, public health and family.
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I
Intersectionality
Intersectionality recognises multiple forms of inequality and oppression as overlapping
and existing simultaneously. Central to intersectionality is the experience of racism
by Black and minoritised women of colour. The focus on racism within intersectionality
stems from a recognition that racism is a foundational system of oppression that interlocks with other forms of inequality, such as sexism, patriarchy, white supremacy, classism, ableism, transphobia, and others. To deepen the understanding of intersectionality, it is important to frame it appropriately as oppression rooted in structural inequality and how diverse identities can be used by institutions and structures to deny women equality. An intersectional framework ensures that women’s diverse experiences are recognised, and their needs are met through more inclusive services and policies. It moves beyond single-issue approaches, addressing the interconnectedness of social inequalities and the specific challenges faced by those with intersecting identities.
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N
National women’s helpline
A national women’s helpline is a dedicated service for women that serves exclusively or predominantly women survivors of violence. It should operate 24/7, be free of charge, and support survivors of all forms of violence against women. To ensure accessibility, the helpline should offer assistance in multiple languages and be available to women across the entire country, with staff who are well-trained, skilled communicators, and knowledgeable about regional contexts and relevant services. Women’s helplines provide crisis counselling, practical support, and referrals to other services, such as women’s specialist services.
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Primary Prevention
Primary prevention refers to all approaches that aim to prevent violence before it occurs by tackling root causes like gender inequality and stereotypes. Actions may include community organising for gender equality and against VAWG, school-based programmes on preventing child abuse or dating violence, feminist self-defence, and programmes challenging harmful masculine behaviour and attitudes.
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R
Rape crisis centres (RCC)
Rape crisis centres are specialist services for survivors of rape, sexual assault, and all forms of sexualised violence. They provide immediate, medium-, and long-term support grounded in survivor-centred empowerment, offering counselling, advocacy, information, and accompaniment, including support at police stations, in court, and throughout legal proceedings. Many centres also run helplines that offer specialist counselling, explain survivors’ rights, and connect them with other support services. In addition to direct care, rape crisis centres often work with communities and partner agencies to strengthen responses to sexualised violence and advance prevention.
S
Sexual violence referral centres (SVRC)
A sexual violence referral centre specialises in immediate medical care, forensic practice, storage of evidence and crisis intervention, and can be placed in hospital settings to respond to survivors of recent sexualised violence. These centres can also carry out medical assistance and refer survivors to other specialist community-based centres.
Support services for survivors of sexualised violence
Support services for survivors of sexualised violence include rape crisis centres, sexual violence referral centres, and other specialised services, such as crisis/medical services and specialised sexualised violence helplines. Many women’s centres also offer a range of support services to survivors of sexualised violence within their holistic approach to ending violence against women and girls.
Specialist support services
Specialist support services have specialised in providing support and assistance tailored to the – often immediate – needs of victims of specific forms of violence against women or domestic violence and are not open to the general public. While these may be services run or funded by government authorities, the large majority of specialist services are offered by NGOs.7
Survivor/victim
The term “survivor” is used to empower women by recognising that the woman has survived the violence and is not defined by it. The term victim is an international legal term, which means a natural person who has suffered harm (including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss) that was directly caused by a criminal offence.8
Survivor-centred approach
A survivor-centred approach prioritises the rights, needs and wishes of survivors. It ensures that all actions promote their safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination, and that they are empowered to make informed decisions about their lives.
T
U
V
Violence against women and girls (VAWG)
Violence against women and girls is understood as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women and shall mean all acts of gender-based violence that result in or are likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.9
W
Women’s centres
Women’s centres are non-residential specialist services that support women survivors of violence and their children. Grounded in feminist, gender-specific, and human rights-based practice, they provide empowering short- and long-term assistance while prioritising women’s safety and autonomy. The term includes women’s counselling and crisis centres, specialist services for Black and minoritised women, migrant women, or refugee women, specialist services for women survivors of trafficking, and other outreach services. Typical support includes information, advice, advocacy, counselling, practical help, and accompaniment to courts, police, or social services, as well as proactive and outreach support, among other services.
Women’s specialist services (WSS)
Women’s specialist services are feminist services that support women and their children experiencing gender-based violence. These services include, but are not limited to, women’s centres, women’s shelters, helplines, rape crisis or sexual violence referral centres, as well as primary prevention services. Women’s specialist services empower and support women and girls throughout the cycle of violence by putting their needs at the centre of all interventions, applying an intersectional approach, and working together with them, recognising their agency. Women’s specialist services are typically run by non-governmental feminist organisations that aim to advance women’s and girls’ human rights to enjoy a life free from all forms of violence.
Women’s shelters
Women’s shelters are specialised services that provide immediate, safe accommodation for women experiencing violence and their children. Rooted in feminist, gender-specific, and human rights-based practice, these shelters offer far more than emergency accommodation: they work to empower women, prioritise their safety, and offer long-term support. Services provided often include counselling, legal assistance, help accessing employment, and support in securing stable housing.
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- Article 3(b) of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). ↩︎
- UNRISD, 2025, Understanding backlash against gender equality: Evidence, trends and policy responses: https://knowledge.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2025/09/understanding-backlash-against-gender-equality-evidence-trends-and-policy-responses ↩︎
- Article 3(d) of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). ↩︎
- Recital 17, Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA. ↩︎
- Council of Europe (CoE) (2011), Explanatory Report, op. cit., para. 125-126. ↩︎
- GREVIO Baseline Evaluation Report on Montenegro, para. 6 and 124, Sweden, Portugal, North Macedonia para. 48 and 54; Croatia, para. 30 and 138; Serbia, para. 131; Romania, p. 187. ↩︎
- Council of Europe (CoE) (2011), Explanatory Report, op. cit., para. 125. ↩︎
- Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2001/220/
JHA. ↩︎ - Article 3(a) of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). ↩︎
