Generally, gender and sex are often used interchangeably but they have different meanings. Gender is a social construct that defines male or female while sex is the biological difference between male and female.

Gender refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, attributes and opportunities that any society considers appropriate for girls and boys, and women and men; while sex is the anatomy and physiological composition of male and female. For instance, the internal and external difference between male and female genitalia, both internal and external is sex. Gender is not the same as sex but rather gives definition to the roles played by men and women in their public and private lives.

Gender intersects with other factors that drive inequalities, discrimination and marginalization such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, age, geographic location and sexual orientation, amongst others.