Key terminology Gender-based discrimination includes any distinction, exclusion or restriction due to gender that has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Direct discrimination occurs when a difference in treatment relies directly on distinctions based exclusively on characteristics of an individual related to their sex and gender, which cannot be justified on objective and reasonable grounds (e.g. laws excluding women from serving as judges). Indirect discrimination occurs when a law, policy, programme or practice appears to be neutral but has a disproportionately negative effect on women or men when implemented (e.g. pension schemes that exclude, for instance, parttime workers, most of whom are women). Gender refers to the socially constructed identities, attributes and roles of persons in relation to their sex and the social and cultural meanings attached to biological differences based on sex. The meaning of such socially constructed identities, attributes and roles varies across societies, communities and groups and over time. This often results in hierarchical relationships between women and men and an unequal distribution of power and rights, favouring men and disadvantaging women and affecting all members of society. The social positioning of women and men is affected by political, economic, cultural, social, religious, ideological and environmental factors. Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence directed towards, or disproportionately affecting, someone because of their gender or sex. Such violence takes multiple forms, including acts or omissions intended or likely to cause or result in death or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering, threats of such acts, harassment, coercion and arbitrary deprivation of liberty.2 Examples include sexual violence, trafficking, domestic violence, battery, dowryrelated violence, coerced or forced use of contraceptives, violence against LGBTI persons, femicide, female infanticide, harmful practices and certain forms of slavery and servitude. Gender analysis is a key tool to help recognize, understand and make visible the gendered nature of human rights violations, including their specific and differential impact on women, men and others, as well as human rights violations based on gender that specifically target lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons. It can help to identify differences in the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in all spheres of life. It also seeks to analyse power relations within the larger sociocultural, economic, political and environmental contexts to understand the root causes of discrimination and inequality. Gender analysis is an integral part of a humanrights-based approach,1 allowing one to see the many ways that gender affects human rights. As a starting point for gender integration, it can propose measures that will close the gender gap between international human rights standards and the everyday human rights situation on the ground. 1 Gender equality refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for people of all sexes and gender identities. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male, female or outside those binary categories. Substantive or de facto equality, as required by the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), does not mean guaranteeing women treatment that is identical to that of men in all circumstances. Rather, it recognizes that non- A human-rights-based approach integrates international human rights standards and the principles of participation, accountability and non-discrimination into all development programming. For further information, see HRBA Portal, and OHCHR, Frequently Asked Questions on the Right to Development, Fact Sheet No. 37 (New York and Geneva, 2016), p. 10. 2 7 CEDAW general recommendation No. 35 (2017).