II I N T E G R AT I N G A G E N D E R P E R S P E C T I V E I N T O H U M A N R I G H T S I N V E S T I G AT I O N S • G U I D A N C E A N D P R A C T I C E B a disproportionate effect on women and children, with up to 75 per cent of reported cases affecting women. A gender analysis shed light on the causes of transmission: women and girls are more often in contact with bodily fluids of infected persons as they are usually caretakers for ill family members and more likely to be front-line health workers (nurses, midwives) or health facility service staff (e.g. cleaners, laundry workers, etc.). Women are often traditionally tasked with preparing dead bodies for burial, exposing them to direct contact with disease. Also, women can contract the disease through sexual intercourse with men who have recovered from Ebola, as the virus stays in the semen for up to seven weeks after recovery. In this regard, it is important to consider that women are often not in a position to refuse sex – including within marriage – and to negotiate the use of condoms. It is not that Ebola targets women; however, a simple analysis uncovers the effect that gender roles can have on the rights of women, starting with the basic right to life. COLLECTING SEX- AND AGE-DISAGGREGATED DATA While respecting the principles of selfidentification,35 investigators should seek to obtain disaggregated data. At a minimum, information on violations (e.g. extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, deprivation of liberty, GBV, etc.) should be broken down by sex and age and, where possible, on the basis of other status. This is key to determining the gender specificities of human rights violations as well as to giving an accurate account of the particular experience of women, girls, men and boys and to identifying potentially discriminatory practices or targeting (e.g. based on ethnicity, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, disability, etc.). Disaggregated data is not always available and, where it is not, this fact should be reflected in the report. In such instances, data in the OHCHR database or estimates provided by local human rights organizations might be used as indicators, provided they are properly referenced in the report. In order to document the differentiated impact of violations or of the human rights situation on women and girls, investigation teams should also seek and gather information and disaggregated data, including by year, to allow comparative analysis of the possible impact or exacerbation of pre-existing forms of violence and discrimination. C OVERCOMING CHALLENGES DURING INFORMATION-GATHERING Collecting information on violations or abuses directed towards, or disproportionately affecting, someone because of their gender or sex is particularly challenging. The ongoing discrimination that victims may face, and the impunity that typically prevails, requires that investigators and interpreters win the trust of victims. In most societies, it is often not socially acceptable to discuss the systematic oppression of women and LGBTI persons or certain prevalent violations, such as sexual violence. Consequently, besides the absence of reliable information, the investigation team may struggle to identify where such violations have occurred and to find victims or witnesses who are willing to provide testimony. Example The importance of the collection of sexdisaggregated data was illustrated during the Ebola disease outbreak, which showed The principle of self-identification prescribes that a person belonging to a minority group or groups has the right to selfidentify, or not to self-identify, as being of such a group. For more information, see Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, art. 3. 35 26