A global call to action for gender-inclusive data collection and use

Abstract

The global data community has made—and is continuing to make—enormous strides toward collecting, analyzing, and using sex-disaggregated data to improve international development programs. Historically, however, sex-disaggregation has been—and largely continues to be—a binary representation of cisgender female and cisgender male populations. This binary interpretation excludes transgender and gender-nonconforming people and further perpetuates marginalization and discrimination of these populations. In a world where disparities are increasing, it is paramount to highlight and share the experiences of marginalized populations so we are better able to serve all beneficiary needs and end disparities. To this end, we call for a paradigm shift from binary sex-disaggregation to multinomial gender-disaggregation, which is more inclusive and equitable. This call to action is aimed particularly at surveyors, researchers, program implementors, policy makers, and gender rights advocates in both resource-sufficient and resource-constrained settings. The lack of adequate gender-disaggregated data is a universal problem.