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This Glossary provides a central place to find the meaning of key terms in Gender-Based Violence (GBV) work and to access resources for further learning. It will grow and change as the GBV field does. If you find a term should be added or revised, please contact us at gbvln@uwo.ca

You can view the terms associated with a letter by selecting the letter below. Crossed out letters do not have any terms.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Neglect

“Neglect happens when a family member, who has a duty to care for you, fails to provide you with your basic needs.

This can involve:

  • not providing proper food or warm clothing
  • failing to provide adequate health care, medication and personal hygiene (if needed)
  • failing to prevent physical harm
  • failing to ensure proper supervision (if needed)

Spouses and common-law partners have a duty to care for each other. Adults have a duty to care for their dependent children as well as their dependent parents.

Some forms of neglect are crimes in Canada, including failure to provide the necessities of life and child abandonment. If a child is neglected, child protection authorities could intervene and remove the child from his or her parents.” [1]

Footnotes:

[1] Government of Canada Department of Justice. (n.d.). About family violence. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/fv-vf/about-apropos.html#neg

Non-Disclosure Agreement

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is “a signed legal document that restricts sharing information designated as ‘confidential’ with others.” [1]

NDAs are often used to prevent information from going public that can have negative repercussions for an individual’s or company’s reputation. [1]

They are often misused in cases of gender-based violence to try and conceal the identity of the person who has caused harm and are used to silence survivors. [1]

Learn More:

Backgrounder: End the Misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements! Informed Choices for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence – Learning Network

Footnotes:

[1] Learning Network. (2023). End the Misuse of Non-Disclosure Agreements! Informed Choices for Survivors of Gender-Based Violence. Retrieved from https://gbvlearningnetwork.ca/our-work/backgrounders/non-disclosure-agreements/End-the-Misuse-of-Non-Disclosure-Agreements.pdf