Key principles for inclusive language use

You should aim to follow these principles if you wish to make your language inclusive and transformative:

  1. Recognise and challenge stereotypes.
  2. Be inclusive and avoid omission and making others invisible.
  3. Be respectful and avoid trivialisation and subordination.

If you succeed in following these principles you are well on your way to becoming a user of gender-sensitive language and you should find yourself naturally following the rest of the guidance in this toolkit.

We consider these principles throughout the Challenges section.