Glossary

Biological Sex: Biological classification of bodies as female or male based on factors such as external sex organs, internal sexual and reproductive organs, hormones, and chromosomes.

Bisexual: Sexual orientation of a person who is sexually and romantically attracted to both women and men.

Gay: Synonym in many parts of the world for homosexual; used here to refer to the sexual orientation of a man whose primary sexual and romantic attraction is towards other men.

Gender: Social and cultural codes (as opposed to biological sex) used to distinguish between what a society considers "masculine" or "feminine" conduct.

Gender-Based Violence: Violence directed against a person based on gender or sex. Gender-based violence includes sexual violence, domestic violence, psychological abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, harmful traditional practices, and discriminatory practices based on gender.

Gender Identity: Person’s internal, deeply felt sense of being female or male, both, or something other than female and male. It does not necessarily correspond to the biological sex assigned at birth.

Heterosexual: Person whose primary sexual and romantic attraction, or sexual orientation, is toward people of the other sex.

Homophobia: Fear and contempt of homosexuals, usually based on negative stereotypes of homosexuality.

Homosexual: Sexual orientation of a person whose primary sexual and romantic attractions are toward people of the same sex.

Intersex People: People born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not seem to fit the typical definitions of “female” or “male”; for instance, they may have sexual organs that correspond to both sexes.

Key Populations/Key Populations at Higher Risk of HIV Exposure: Those most likely to be exposed to HIV or to transmit it. In most settings, those at high risk of HIV exposure include men who have sex with men, transgender persons, people who inject drugs, sex workers and their clients, and HIV-negative partners in serodiscordant couples (couples in which one partner is HIV-positive and one is HIV-negative). Each country should define the specific populations that are key to their epidemic and response based on the epidemiological and social context.[1]

LGBTI: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex; an inclusive term for groups and identities sometimes associated together as “sexual minorities.”

Lesbian: Sexual orientation of a woman whose primary sexual and romantic attraction is toward other women.

Maskani: Kiswahili slang term used to signify an outdoor location for using drugs.

Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM): Men who have sexual relations with persons of the same sex, but may or may not identify themselves as gay or bisexual. MSM may or may not also have sexual relationships with women.

Most At-Risk Populations (MARPs): Used by public health workers to describe groups likely to be exposed to HIV or to transmit it. This report uses the terms “key populations” and “most at-risk populations” interchangeably. It also uses the terms “marginalized groups” and “vulnerable groups,” to refer collectively to sexual and gender minorities, sex workers, and people who use drugs.

Panga: Kiswahili word for machete.

People Who Inject Drugs/People Who Use Drugs: Used here instead of “injecting drug users” (IDUs) or “drug users,” terms that some drug users reject as defining them based on drug use alone. In Kiswahili, the non-pejorative slang term “teja” (plural: “mateja”) is often used to refer to people who use drugs; “mtumiaji wa madawa ya kulevya” (literally, person who uses drugs) is also used.

Police Form Number 3 (PF3): Form that police must fill out before most Tanzanian hospitals will treat victims of assault.

Police Jamii: Community police; groups of civilians in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar that provide information to the police and in some cases carry out patrols.

Sexual Minorities: Inclusive term that includes all persons with non-conforming sexualities and gender identities, such as LGBTI, men who have sex with men (and may not self-identify as LGBTI) and women who have sex with women.

Sexual Orientation: The way a person’s sexual and romantic desires are directed. The term describes whether a person is attracted primarily to people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or to both. Kiswahili, Tanzania’s national language, has a number of derogatory terms to describe people whose sexual orientation is not heterosexual. They include “shoga” and “msenge” (used to refer to men who have sex with men) and “msagaji” (used to refer to women who have sex with women). These terms are sometimes used by LGBTI people themselves in a non-derogatory way to refer to themselves or community members. “Mtu mwenye uhusiano we jinsia moja” (“a person having same-gender relationships”) is a neutral, non-offensive way to refer to someone who has same-sex relationships.

Sex Workers: Used here to refer to adult women and men who provide sexual services in exchange for money. Child sex work is strictly prohibited under international law and is a form of commercial sexual exploitation. Children engaged in sex work, however, should never be treated as criminals but are entitled to protection from the state from such exploitation and provided with appropriate assistance.

Sungu Sungu: Initially used to refer to a vigilante group formed to combat cattle rustling in western Tanzania in the 1980s; more recently, the term has come to be used to describe any neighborhood militia. (Also “Sungusungu.”)

Transgender: The gender identity of people whose birth gender (which they were declared to have upon birth) does not conform to their lived and/or perceived gender (the gender that they are most comfortable with expressing or would express given a choice). A transgender person usually adopts, or would prefer to adopt, a gender expression in consonance with their preferred gender, but may or may not desire to permanently alter their bodily characteristics in order to conform to their preferred gender.

Women Who Have Sex With Women (WSW): Women who may or may not identify as lesbian or bisexual; some WSW may also have sexual relationships with men.