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Language is a mechanism, a tool, that influences thoughts, shapes gender roles and therefore carries a great potential for establishing gender equality in societies. It shows how we perceive life and also determines it. Language plays an important role in the formation of our thoughts and behaviors, hence the construction of our reality about gender. 

As UNDP Turkey, we ground on gender equality and women’s empowerment principles in all of our programs and interventions, within the institution and in all forms of communication with our partners. The reason we prepared this guide is to determine the ways to have a gender responsive approach when communicating both in the office and with the institutions, organizations, and individuals we work with.

The language we use begins to take shape from the moment we are born. It is kneaded within the norms, thoughts, and actions of the society we live in and becomes a set of rules that we unconsciously internalize. Therefore, we often use a sexist language even without realizing and thus reproduce it at every turn.

Based on the idea that transformation begins with awareness, this guide offers a stimulating path to the limits of our language, demonstrates how it reproduces gender inequality, and offers ways for changing this.

We believe that gender responsive communication is a sign of commitment to gender equality for any country, community or institution. Therefore, we invite you to become the transformation itself by following this sign.

We would like to thank you in advance for your interest and dedication to using a gender responsive language and hope that this guide will help us on the way to become a gender-equal society.