Human-Centered Language

Alight's Guide to Inclusive Speech

“Listen with ears of tolerance! See through the eyes of compassion!

Speak with the language of love!” Rumi
Alight is a human-centered
humanitarian organization. Our core
characteristic is seeing every human
being as a full, whole, complex, and
worthy of being truly seen - and truly
heard.We are committed to listening
without judging. We look at the wider
context to understand better. And we
use inclusive speech that
“acknowledges diversity, conveys
respect to all people, is sensitive to
di erences, and promotes equal
opportunities” (According to the
Linguistic Society of America'
Guidelines for Inclusive Language).
In 2019, in solidarity with the people we
se r ve, we' ve d ro p p e d th e l a b e l
'refugee' becoming Alight – because
our customers should not be defined by
a single dark moment in their lives.
Every person can make meaningful
change in the world, and Alight exists to
unleash the abundance within every
human.
Human-centered Language is
language that puts human in the
ce n te r – b e ca u se eve r y h u m a n
deserves to be seen as a whole and
complete being, rather than being
defined by their circumstances,
abilities, strengths and weaknesses.
It is language free from words, phrases
or tones that demean, insult, exclude,
stereotype, infantilize or belittle people
on the basis of their membership of a
c e r ta i n g ro u p o r b e c a u s e of a
particular attribute.
It is language that conveys respect,
upholds dignity, values diversity, and
empowers every human.
The principles of respect, dignity and
diversity are core to the human-
centered language and do not change
– but the language itself does. So while
this guide may o er advice on most
appropriate phrases that are used at
the moment, they may change over
time as terminology evolves.
We exist to honor the people we serve.
And we do it through using human-
centered language.
Standards of human-centered
language
• It sees each person as a whole
being and reflects the
individuality of each human,
rather than
• labelling or stereotyping based on
one's association or identity with a
group or culture.
• I t o n l y refe re n c es p e rso n a l
attributes or characteristics when
and if it is relevant to the context.
• It focuses on strengths (abilities,
knowledge and capacities),
rather than deficits (perceived
deficiencies or supposed failings
of a person, or group of people).
• It uses the terms preferred by each
person when describing
themselves.
• It is conscious of the wider context
and of possible implications –
language must not exclude others
or make people invisible or less
important.
• It empowers the person or group
to speak for themselves – but if
you do need to speak on the
behalf of a group of people, it is
very important that you consult
widely to ensure that the
language you use is reflective of
the group.
PEOPLE AFFECTED BY DISPLACEMENT,
MIGRATION AND REFUGEE STATUS
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
defines refugees as people who have
fl e d w a r, v i o l e n c e , c o n fl i c t o r
persecution and have crossed an
international border to find safety in
another country while claiming that
“migrant” is a general umbrella term to
refer to anyone living outside the
country of their birth.
The status of refugee comes with
certain rights and the term can be used
in the rights context – it is not
demeaning in itself, but becomes
problematic if applied as lens through
which we perceive people.
Internally Displaced Person (or People)
are "persons or groups of persons who
have been forced or obliged to flee or
to leave their homes or places of
habitual residence, in particular as a
result of or in order to avoid the e ects
of a r m e d co n fl i c t , si t u a ti o n s of
generalized violence, violations of
human rights or natural or human-
made disasters, and who have not
crossed an internationally recognized
border” according to OHCHR. Here
again, the term can be used in the
rights context – it is not demeaning in
itself, but becomes problematic if
applied as lens through which we
perceive people.
When talking about internally
displaced people avoid calling them
IDPs.
Talk about migrants when referring to a
person who moves away from their
place of residence to another, whether
this is within their own country or across
borders, but do not use label economic
migrant to diminish or belittle the
reasons for one's decision on migration.
Talk about irregular migrants or
undocumented migrants, or about
asylum-seekers but never illegal
migrants – no person is illegal.
When talking about people a ected
by disasters you can, when relevant,
reveal their experience of being
a e c te d by fl o o d , e a r t h q u a ke,
drought, famine or other adversities,
but avoid saying flood- a ectees or
earthquake a ectees (as spotted on
some Pakistani media).
Climate refugees is a recent term
describing people forced to leave
home by climate change impacts. Even
though the term is contested – with
UNHCR saying that: “It is more
accurate to refer to persons displaced
in the context of disasters and climate
change” and stating that refugee is a
legal term, more and more media
channels choose to talk about climate
refugees rather than “people a ected
by unprecedented floods/ drought/
heatwaves etc. in order to highlight the
gravity of their situation and call
attention to the growing impact of
climate change.
R A C E , E T H N I C I T Y, H E R I T A G E ,
R E L I G I O U S A N D C U LT U R A L
AFFILIATION
O n l y refe re n ce so m eo n e's ra ce,
ethnicity, cultural background and/or
religious a liation when it is
appropriate for the context. If it is
unnecessary to refer to someone's
background, use human-centered
language saying, for example, “a
person of Chinese descent”.
Only talk about the color of someone's
skin if it is relevant. Don't make
a s s u m p t i o n s a b o u t s o m e o n e 's
ancestry based on their physical
features.
When describing a person who is of
African or African Caribbean heritage
you can use the term Black written in
with capital letter. Black can be an
individual identity as well as an
organizing or solidarity identity
drawing together people of di erent
racialized identities.
Never refer to person in terms “half-
caste”, “full-blood” or “mixed race”. If
necessary, you can say: “bi- racial” or
“multi-racial”.
Instead of saying “ethnic minority” say:
“minority ethnic” (or “minoritized ethnic
person” or “marginalized ethnic
person”) to put the emphasis on that
ethnicity being a minority or having less
power in a particular context, rather
than the ethnicity itself being a
minority.
The rules of relevance apply to
s o m e o n e's c u l t u ra l o r re l i g i o u s
a liation – only mention it when
essential and always use the terms
preferred by people a liated to certain
religion or group.
If talking about one's caste (the
hereditary class system of Hindu
society existing in India and Nepal) is
justified by the context of your story, it is
best to use terms preferred by the
person you are talking about. It is more
advisable to say Dalit rather than
U n to u c h a b l e, w h e n refe r r i n g to
someone drawing from the community
at the bottom of the caste system.
Stay away from White Saviourism – an
ideology that is acted upon when a
White person, from a position of
superiority, attempts to 'fix' perceived
problems in nations mainly populated
by Black, Indigenous and People of
Color. This ideology unjustly portrays
some nations or communities as poor,
helpless and in need of 'rescue' by white
people, who are unjustly portrayed as
having all the knowledge, experience
and tools.
SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS
“Global majority” is a respectful and
adequate term referring to most of the
population of the world that live in what is
of te n refe r re d to a s “d eve l o p i n g
countries” or “the Global South” – do not
use the term: “third world” or
“underdeveloped countries”. The term
“developing countries” is also not
preferred.
“Global minority” is a term referring to the
smaller population of the world that live in
wealthier nations, often described as
“the West” or “the Global North”. Do not
use the term “first world”, and avoid
saying: “the West ” or “developed
countries”.
Experience of low income or poverty
should not be considered as the defining
feature of any human. When talking
about income, only include what is
necessary and relevant for your content.
If needed you can refer to some people
as: “people whose income is below the
poverty threshold”, “person with low
income”, “people facing economic
barriers”, “people living in poverty” or
“people experiencing poverty” rather
than: “the poor”, “the disadvantaged”,
“the vulnerable”.
You can mention “informal settlements”,
“informal housing” and “people who live
in informal settlements” – rather than
saying: “slum”, “shanty-town” or “slum-
dwellers”. The latter phrases have
negative connotations and convey bias.
The term 'slum dweller' might also be
considered to be dehumanizing.
You can talk about “homeless people”,
“homeless person”, or – preferably –
“people experiencing homelessness” or
“person in the crisis of homelessness”
rather than “the homeless”.
DISABILITY, PHYSICAL AND MENTAL
HEALTH
Disability, or health status does not
define a person, so if relevant to the
context you can say person or people
with disability or disabilities, never
“cripple”, “handicapped”, “disabled
person”, “wheelchair-bound” or “mental
patient”. Avoid using infantilizing:
“di erently-abled person”, “special
n e e d s p e r s o n ” o r
“physically/intellectually challenged”.
When talking or writing about a person
with disability it is best to start by asking
yourself whether a person's disability is
relevant to your story.
Stay away from 'inspiration porn' – that is
portraying people with disabilities in a
way that evokes sentimentality and/or
pity; and/or is meant to illustrate an
uplifting moral message, primarily aimed
at non-disabled viewers while often
objectifying people with disabilities and
treating them anonymously even when
they are named.
When the context requires talking about
particular disability or health issue, say “a
person a ected by…” rather than
“a icted with…', 'su ering from…' or
'victim of…'. Use phrases such as: “people
living with HIV”, “people living with AIDS”,
“person living with a chronic health
condition” when talking about a person
with particular health condition rather
than saying: “AIDS victim” or “MS
su erer”.
Do not refer to non-disabled person or
people as “normal” – if you need to
di erentiate you can talk about people
with disabilities and non-disabled
people.
GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Human-centered language is a
gender-inclusive language portraying
p eo p l e i n a wa y th a t d o es n ot
discriminate against a particular sex,
social gender or gender identity, and
does not perpetuate gender
stereotypes.
Only make gender visible when
relevant for the story. Avoid gendered
words – words ending in “-man” are the
most commonly used gendered nouns
in English. Instead replace them with
gender-neutral terms, saying, for
example, person or individual rather
than man; people, human beings or
humanity rather than mankind; or:
chair, chairperson, coordinator or head
rather than chairman.
Try making the nouns and pronouns
plural if it works for your particular
sentence, saying they or their in place
of he or she.
The language around gender identity
and the LGBT community is evolving
and careful consideration should be
given to the terms you use. It is always
best practice to consult how someone
wishes to be identified and what
pronoun(s) they wish to use.
Referring to a person whose gender
does not exclusively align with the one
they were assigned at birth you can use
the terms: transgender woman/man,
transgender people, a trans person
(rather than transsexual). It is more
neutral and inclusive than hijra or
khusra – the terms commonly
describing transgender women in
South Asia.
AGE
Only refer to a person's age when
relevant to the context - unnecessary
reference to age can contribute to
exclusion, ageism, or discrimination.
Use human-centered language that
conveys respect when talking about
someone's age. Remember that a
person's age communicates only the
amount of yearsthey have spent alive
and has no qualitative value. It does
not communicate a person's maturity,
experience, or physical or mental
capability.
If the age of a person is relevant to the
context, it's best to use numerals –
saying, for example, the person aged
30, or a 5-year-old child. Using birth
years is better than referring to certain
g e n e ra t i o n s a s B a by B o o m e rs ,
Generation X, Millennials, Generation Z
etc.
The best choice of a term to describe
older people is older people, rather
than senior people, old people, or the
elderly.
The best choices of reference to young
people are: young people, youth,
adolescents, children or babies (as
appropriate), rather than saying:
youth, young adults or kids.