A/HRC/43/73 family and domesticity that ensured that African families could be controlled. Those concepts underlined the division of labour, processes of land disposition and labour exploitation. He stressed the importance of addressing those issues also in light of the ways in which colonialism had shaped the experiences of African men. 56. He argued that those issues should be addressed not only in terms of the intersectionality of gender and race, but also from an African perspective and, more specifically, taking into account the very different cultural meanings of gender and motherhood that differed from the ways in which those concepts were framed in international law and international gender discourses. It was important to address African women’s circumstances to find ways of articulating notions of freedom and justice in accordance with each woman’s own cultural self-understanding. In that regard, specific issues faced by African women included economic exclusion and financial discrimination, which were exemplified by the lack of access to formal employment, lack of access to financial credit and exclusion from political participation. 57. He underlined the importance of education and the need to better reflect the historical contributions of women in textbooks, in particular their contributions to the anti-colonial struggles. In that respect, he stressed the necessity of shifting not only our knowledge of politics at the national and international levels, but also the historical archive and the historical evidence in order to promote a more positive image of African women. He highlighted the issue of low school attendance among African girls. He referred to recent measures taken in South Africa to counter that trend by creating minimum standards for schools, sanitation, hygiene and infrastructure and improving safety on the road to school. He encouraged other States to implement such measures. He highlighted the issue of sexual harassment and violence at schools against female students and teachers, which was also present at universities and in the workplace. He stressed the importance of addressing the problems of HIV/AIDS and referred to the holistic approach adopted in South Africa to curb the issue. 58. He argued that the debates around traditional cultural practices, in particular about female genital mutilation and certain marriage customs, had played a role in limiting opportunities for African women. In his view, gender equality for African women could only be achieved through recognizing the singularity and diversity of African women’s cultural and historical experiences. He argued that the communities themselves should lead the transformations. 59. In her presentation, Ms. Day provided an analysis based on data, disaggregated by relevant factors, on the power of individuals and local decision-making to have an impact on access to resources and the enjoyment of human rights. Drawing upon concrete cases of discrimination faced by students of African descent, she highlighted the effects of negative stereotyping in terms of lowering the expectations of students of African descent and in sustaining massive racial disparities in child protection and in the removal of children on allegations of abuse and neglect. She also highlighted the discrimination faced by women of African descent in access to the right to health, noting that women of African descent faced higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, irrespective of income and geographical location. She stressed that those issues were not intrinsic or inherent to women of African descent, but the outcomes of systemic and structural racism and of a global mindset that reflected a legacy of trade and trafficking in enslaved Africans. 60. She argued that data, disaggregated by relevant factors, was an essential tool with the potential to reveal racial discrimination and barriers to access for women of African descent in claiming their human rights and to determine effective ways to redress those issues. She noted, however, that data might also be used to perpetuate human rights abuses. She emphasized the key role of policymakers in protecting human dignity and human potential in interpreting the data properly and that data analysis required context and sound interpretation. By focusing on local conditions, data, disaggregated by relevant factors, could be used to identify racial disparities, test new practices and policies, determine what people or practices were driving racial disparities and measure progress in reducing racial disparity and racial discrimination. 9