Defending Dignity A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Finally, careful attention must be paid to what data exists, what data does not exist and, importantly, why there are gaps in the data. As discussed in Chapter 5, the availability of data is often a reflection of existing, unequal power relations. If this is not acknowledged and treated with care, the use of this data can actually reinforce existing discrimination and hurt more than it helps. This is particularly important when considering the gender dimensions of an issue; data about women is notoriously lacking. As the Secretary-General’s Independent Expert Advisory Group on a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development (IEAG) has said, “gender inequality and the undervaluing of women’s activities and priorities in every sphere has been replicated in the statistical record”.13 In many countries, we do not even know how many women there are, let alone how poor they are, how healthy they, how educated they are, what work they do or how they spend their time. This is not just a problem of a lack of gender-disaggregated data. Some of the issues most important to their lives are simply not counted at all. For example, labour market statistics rarely take into account the time spent on domestic work, and the value of unpaid care work is not included in GDP, even though it is a crucial input into the economy and has been (conservatively) valued at 13% of global GDP. 6.5. IN PRACTICE: GETTING AND ORGANIZING SECONDARY DATA With your research plan as your guide, you are ready to get started with the research phase of your monitoring activity. Start by looking for socio-economic statistics, administrative data, perception surveys and expert judgements online, including on the websites of organizations mentioned in this chapter. If there are gaps in what you need, your next step might be to approach relevant government agencies, municipalities and service providers (e.g. schools, health facilities, water companies). If they are uncooperative, consider using subpoenas or official requests for the data you need. As you start to find secondary data, it is important to ensure that it is in a format that you can work with (e.g. a CVS or Excel file, rather than a PDF) and that you keep a full record of where the original data came from and any changes in the data that you make along the way. 13 68 IEAG (2014), A World That Counts: Mobilizing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, at p.14.