36 Example In 2006, the Dutch Equal Treatment Commission (ETC) advised the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment to arrange insurance for self-employed women, which would guarantee an adequate compensation for the period of maternity leave. In 2012, the ETC plans to give an advisory opinion about the existing differences in the insurance compensation received by men and women for injuries suffered. HANDBOOK FOR NHRIs ON WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY 2.7 ADVISORY OPINIONS An advisory opinion is a non-binding opinion by an official on the interpretation of a law, a proposed statute or a hypothetical question submitted by a legislative or executive body, or by an interested party in this case, about compliance with human rights norms. Advisory NHRIs can serve a  protective function because they provide information about the position of the NHRI on a submitted question and can also furnish recommendations as to how organizations and institutions can best address human rights issues. oDIHR Recommendations should ensure that gender equality and wom→ NHRIs en’s rights are mainstreamed into all protection strategies, and that policies are in place to address the particular protection needs of women and girls in the national context. NHRIs should apply a  diverse range of protection → strategies and techniques in order to protect women’s rights and address gender-based discrimination. rights and gender equality aspects must be �� Women’s considered at all stages of the monitoring process, from the planning and data-collection strategy to analysis and response. should collect sex-disaggregated data in rela→ NHRIs tion to complaint handling and outcome. This can be done, for example, by disaggregating complaints based on the sex of complainants or victims, on the alleged grounds for discrimination, on alleged perpetrators, and/or on the type of alleged violations or abuses. staff should be trained to properly handle and/ → NHRI or refer individual complaints by victims of sexual