Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression: Essential Terminology

Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression: Essential Terminology for the Humanitarian Sector is a language tool that assists humanitarian professionals to communicate effectively and respectfully with and about people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. This guide is organized into five language sections: English, French, Turkish, Farsi and Arabic. Each language section includes an alphabetized list of defined terms relating to SOGI issues and sexually and gender diverse persons.

The goal of this guide is to empower humanitarian workers and refugee professionals with cross-cultural knowledge of essential SOGI terms in a variety of contexts. Users of this guide will learn sensitive and respectful terms and be able to:

• Create a safe space and build trust with refugees.
• Recognize inappropriate or offensive terminology.
• Recognize the terms refugee applicants use to identify themselves.