Gender expression relates to a person’s way of communicating femininity or masculinity (or both or neither) through physical appearance and mannerisms, ways of speaking and patterns when interacting with others. Gender identity refers to a person’s internal sense of being female or male, or a third or alternative gender, or a combination of genders or of having no gender. A person’s gender identity may not necessarily correspond with the sex they were assigned at birth. Gender mainstreaming is a strategy to achieve gender equality. It is an active process of assessing and operationalising gender implications across all activities of an organisation, taking action to achieve gender equality and ensuring gender inequality is not perpetuated. Its goal is to achieve formal and substantive gender equality. Gender specialisation is a strategy that specifically targets those who experience the most serious gender-based human rights violations and those that perpetuate these violations. Intersectional approach to gender mainstreaming recognises that inequalities exist within genders as well as between them. Additional discrimination and disadvantage can occur as a result of multiple other identities. Sex (biological) refers to a person’s biological characteristics. These may be genetic, hormonal or anatomical. They are typically used to group people into two distinct categories, as either male or female. The term ‘sex characteristics’ is a more precise framing of biological sex. Structural sexism refers to the acceptance of cultural, historical, institutional and interpersonal factors that result in preferential treatment for some people on the basis of gender, while producing adverse effects for others. Transgender refers to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with the sex assigned to them at birth. Also commonly shortened to ‘trans’. There are also certain terms used in Asia and the Pacific.1 Some common terms used by transgender woman are kathoey in Thailand, waria in Indonesia, mak nyah in Malaysia, whakawahine in New Zealand and Sistergirl in Australia. Terms used by those who whose gender expression incorporates feminine elements are fa’afine in Samoa and Tokelau, fakaleiti or leiti in Tonga, fakafifine in Niue, akava’ine in Cook Islands and palopa in Papua New Guinea. These words are not limited to a person’s individual identity but also describe their gender role within their extended family. In Samoa, for example, “fa’afafine are known for their hard work and dedication to the family in carrying out roles and responsibilities both for men and women”.2 Introduction to the Guidelines | 7