Glossary
Safe spaces
Interventions used by humanitarian agencies to increase children’s access to safe environments and promote their psychosocial well-being. These include for instance Child-Friendly Spaces and Women and Girls Safe Spaces.
Safety
The condition of being protected from danger, risk or injury. Refers to people's physical and personal well-being and integrity as well as to their freedom from physical, environmental, social, spiritual, political, emotional or psychological harm.
Secondary data
Data collected by someone other than the user.
Secondary trauma or stress
Changes in psychological, physical or spiritual well-being experienced by practitioners over time as a result of seeing and listening to other’s distressing experiences. Practitioners may become overwhelmed by what they see and hear. Depending on the nature and degree of their exposure, witnesses may also suffer primary trauma. Secondary trauma may also affect family members and close associates of trauma victims as a result of the closeness of the relationship.
Separated children
Children separated from both parents or from their previous legal or customary primary caregivers, but not necessarily from other relatives. These may, therefore, include children accompanied by other adult family members.
Sex
The biological attributes of a person, and, therefore, generally unchanging and universal. See Gender.
Sexual abuse
Actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature, whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions. See Sexual violence against children.
Sexual and gender- based violence (SGBV)
Any act that is perpetrated against a person’s will that are based on gender norms and unequal power relationships. It encompasses threats of violence and coercion. It can be physical, emotional, psychological, or sexual in nature, and can take the form of a denial of resources or access to services. It inflicts harm on women, girls, men and boys.
Sexual exploitation
Any actual or attempted abuse of position of vulnerability, differential power or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.
Sexual violence
Any form of sexual activity with a child by an adult or by another child who has power over the child. Sexual violence includes both activities that involve body contact and that without body contact. Also referred to as child sexual abuse.
Social norms
Rules of behaviour that are generally expected and supported in a given context. Abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence can be prevented by positive social norms or can be upheld by social norms, such as the ‘right’ of parents to hit their children. Humanitarian situations can provide opportunities to evaluate and change social norms.
Staff
Any designated representative of an organisation, including national, international and permanent or short-term employees, as well as volunteers and consultants.
Stakeholder
A person, group or institution with interests in a project or programme.
Status offence
Acts that would not be criminal if they were committed by adults but can involve arrest and detention for children. Examples include curfew violations, school truancy, running away, begging, bad or anti- social behaviour, gang association, and even simple disobedience.
Supervision
A relationship that supports the child protection worker's, including caseworker’s, technical competence and practice, promotes well-being and enables effective and supportive monitoring.
Sustainable
Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It includes being economically viable, environmentally sound and socially just over the long term.
Sexe
Fait référence aux attributs biologiques d’une personne. Par conséquent, en général, le sexe ne change pas et est universel. Voir Genre.