Glossary of Key Terms

Autonomy: A person’s ability and right to make their own decisions about their life, body and relationships.

Boundary: In the context of relationships, boundaries are limits or rules a person sets to communicate to others the difference between what they like/agree to and what they do not like/agree to.

Bystander: A person who sees, hears or has knowledge of an issue or incident involving problematic or harmful behaviour.

Checking-in: Verbal communication before, during and/or after any kind of sexual activity, to ensure consent is present.

Coercive control: A pattern of controlling and manipulative behaviour in a relationship where one person tries to dominate another person through fear, manipulation or isolation.

Confidentiality: Rules and procedures to restrict access to certain information, usually for the purpose of protecting a person’s privacy. If someone asks to speak with you confidentially, they are asking you not to share what they say with anybody else.

Consent: Freely and voluntarily agreeing to something. Sexual consent requires a person to be able to freely choose to say both ‘yes’ and ‘no’, and consent can be withdrawn at any time.

Consensual sex: Sex that takes place with the consent of all participants.

Contraception: Preventing pregnancy using a medication, device, or procedure. Common examples include condoms, intra-uterine devices and medications that block sperm entering the uterus.

Dating violence: Violence committed by one partner on a date / in a dating relationship towards the other. The violence may be physical, sexual or psychological.

Deepfake: An image, video or audio recording that has been digitally created or altered using artificial intelligence (AI) to make it appear that a person did or said something they did not.

Direct intervention: A bystander response that happens in the moment and directly responds to problematic or harmful behaviour. This may include speaking up, checking on the person affected or creating a distraction.

Disclose: To disclose means to make something known, often by talking about it with somebody else. Disclosures sometimes relate to matters that were previously overlooked or kept secret.

Discrimination: Treating a person or group unfairly or differently because of characteristics such as their gender, race, sexuality, disability, age or religion.

Domestic violence: Sometimes also called family violence, domestic violence refers to violence that takes place within the home, often towards members of the family or household. It includes physical, sexual and psychological forms of violence.

Doxing: Publishing or sharing someone’s private or identifying information online without their consent, usually with the intention of causing harm.

Ethical bystander: A person who sees, hears or knows about problematic or harmful behaviour and takes action to safely prevent or respond to harm.

Gender diverse: A broad term describing people whose gender identity or expression does not fit traditional ideas about male and female gender.

Gender inequality: Unequal access to power, opportunities, resources and respect based on gender.

Gender stereotypes: Generalised beliefs or assumptions about how people should look, behave, think or feel based on their gender.

Image-based abuse: Sharing, threatening to share or creating intimate or sexual images of another person without their consent.

Indirect intervention: A bystander response that happens after an incident or involves getting support from someone else. This may include checking in with the person affected, documenting what happened or reporting the behaviour.

Intimate partner violence: Violence committed by one partner in an intimate relationship – including marriage – towards the other partner. The violence may be physical, sexual or psychological.

Intoxication: Being affected by alcohol or other drugs. A person who is so intoxicated that they cannot choose or refuse sexual activity cannot legally give consent.

LGBTIQA+: An acronym referring to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning and asexual people. The ‘+’ recognises other diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and sex characteristics.

Nude images (often called simply ‘nudes’): Any visual image depicting or suggesting someone in a naked or semi-naked state.

Patriarchy: A social system or structure where men, particularly certain groups of men, hold more power and privilege than women and gender-diverse people.

Pornography (abbreviated to ‘porn’): Material containing the explicit description or display of sexual activity, for the purpose of sexual arousal or excitement.

Perpetrator: A person who carries out violence, abuse or other harmful behaviour against another person. The term person using violence or person causing harm may also be used.

Person-centred: An approach that respects a person’s choices, needs and autonomy and allows them to decide what feels right for them.

Power dynamics: The ways power is distributed and used between people in a relationship or situation. Differences in age, authority, gender, money, social status or other factors can affect how much power a person has.

Psychological safety: The absence of fear in a relationship or group environment, allowing all people involved to communicate honestly.

Rape: Sexual intercourse against a person’s will and/or without consent.

Report: To report is to make a record of something that has happened. This can be done verbally or in writing.

Sexism: Attitudes, beliefs or behaviours that discriminate against or disadvantage someone based on their sex or gender.

Sextortion: Blackmailing someone for money or sexual favours by threatening to reveal evidence of their sexual activity.

Sexual assault: Sexual activity that happens without a person’s consent.

Sexual coercion: Physical and non-physical pressure to agree to or participate in sexual activity.

Sexual harassment: Unwanted and inappropriate sexual comments or actions, often in the workplace, in public or in other professional or social situations.

Sexual pleasure: Physical and/or emotional enjoyment associated with sexual experiences. Sexual pleasure should involve consent, communication and respect for everyone involved.

Sexually Transmissible Infection (STI): Bacteria or viral infections that are passed from one person to another through bodily fluids (including blood, semen, vaginal fluid). STIs can affect anyone who has had vaginal, anal and/or oral sex.

Sexual violence: Harmful behaviours of a sexual nature carried out against a person’s will. It can be perpetrated by a current or former partner, other people known to the person, family members or strangers. People of all genders and ages can be victims of sexual violence.

Stealthing: Removing a condom during sexual activity without the other person’s consent when consent was given on the condition that a condom would be used.

Technology-facilitated abuse: Any act that is committed, assisted, aggravated, or amplified using information communication technologies or other digital tools, that results in or is likely to cause harm.

Trauma-informed: An approach that keeps a person’s emotional safety at the centre of a response by listening without judgment and avoiding actions or questions that may cause further distress or pressure.

Unwanted sex: Non-consensual sexual activity that takes place because of pressure, coercion or threats.

Victim blaming: Suggesting that the person who was harmed by a crime is in any way responsible for what happened to them.

Victim-survivor: A term used to describe a person who has experienced violence, abuse or other harmful behaviour.