A PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE TO INCREASING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ELECTORAL JUSTICE DEFINITIONS ADR: “[A] process to resolve a dispute in lieu of traditional litigation e.g. mediation, arbitration or settlement conferences.” [From the Building Resources in Democracy, Governance and Elections (BRIDGE) EDR curriculum] Dispute resolution: “[A]ll processes that are used to resolve disputes, whether within or outside formal proceedings. Dispute resolution processes may be facilitative, advisory or determinative.” [From the BRIDGE EDR curriculum] Election disputes: “[A]ny complaints, challenges, disputes, claims, recalls and contestations relating to the electoral process.” [From the BRIDGE EDR curriculum] Gender: “[T]he characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviors and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with each other. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time.” [From the World Health Organization] Gender-based violence: [A]ny harm or suffering that is perpetrated against a woman or girl, man or boy, or any individual and that has a negative impact on the physical, sexual or psychological health, development or identity of the person. The cause of the violence is rooted in gender-based power inequalities and genderbased discrimination. [Adapted from “Preventing and Responding to Gender-Based Violence: Expressions and Strategies, by Sida] Gender justice: “[T]he protection of the rights of everyone irrespective of their sex or gender identity or gender expression, and the prevention and punishment of gender-based violence and gender-based discrimination. It also refers to a system of law and its application which is non-discriminatory and fair, and thus gender responsive. In other words, the justice system is attentive to lived realities of men, women and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities and expressions. Gender justice directly contributes to the promotion of gender equality and to security and the rule of law.” [From Justice and Gender by Eleanor Gordon, 2019] Gender-sensitive: [A]n approach that takes into consideration the diversity of people of different genders, their specific experiences, perspectives and challenges. [Adapted from Inclusive Electoral Processes from UNDP and UN Women] Intersectionality: “[T]he interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise [Oxford Dictionary].” “Intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g., ‘woman’ and ‘black’) do not exist independently of each other, and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression.” [From YW Boston] Implicit and unconscious bias: [B]eliefs developed from personal experience, culture, socialization, and existing stereotypes that influence our opinions and/or decisions about certain groups of people, outside our awareness bias or discrimination that occurs outside a person’s awareness because of social stereotypes (based on a person’s experience, culture, and socialization) about groups of people. [From IFES’ Allies for Equality curriculum] 33