A/HRC/41/45 from indirect or direct external influence, must have the necessary resources and staff with the appropriate skills, and must operate in a manner that is free from conflicts of interest and consistent with their functions and duties. 69. The impartiality of statistical agencies is maintained, in part, by precisely defining how they can use data. As established in the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics (principle 6), individual data collected by statistical agencies for statistical compilation are to be strictly confidential and used exclusively for statistical purposes. V. Conclusions and recommendations 70. In accordance with considerations of due diligence, and given that persons with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities live all across the globe, the duty to understand the manner in which these traits in a person’s identity have an impact on their exposure or vulnerability to violence and discrimination is a key element in the obligation of States to prevent, prosecute and punish violations of human rights. 71. However, information about the lived realities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender-diverse persons around the world is, at best, incomplete and fragmented; in some areas it is non-existent. The mandate holder stresses the seriousness of this finding: it means that in most contexts policymakers are taking decisions in the dark, left only with personal preconceptions and prejudices or the prejudices of the people around them. 72. The disaggregation of data to allow comparison of population groups therefore forms part of a State’s human rights obligations. Data on demographic, economic, social and cultural characteristics, literacy rates, unemployment rates, voting patterns, the number of reported cases of violence and other indicators are essential to the efforts of States to comply with their obligations and to the evaluation of progress towards major development objectives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. 73. The Independent Expert sets out below a number of recommendations, and invites constructive responses from States, civil society and other stakeholders. 74. While taking measures to collect and manage data on sexual orientation and gender identity, States must bear in mind that these are, in almost every context, highly stigmatized characteristics that trigger multiple forms of violence and discrimination. In particular, States are called to bear in mind the international human rights framework in contexts in which it is currently, or has been historically, the policy of the State to deny the existence of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans or other gender-diverse persons. 75. Similarly, when designing and adopting methodologies for data collection and management, fundamental consideration must be given to the manner in which communities, populations and groups identify themselves, including their identification or not under acronyms such as LGBT. 76. States that criminalize sexual orientation and/or gender identity are called upon to take into account, as part of a foundation of compliance with the international human rights law framework, that said forms of criminalization are per se contrary to international human rights law and that, therefore, measures conducive to their implementation – such as data collection carried out with the purpose of prosecuting persons on the basis of their sexual orientation – are, by definition, also violations. The Independent Expert recommends that States repeal such laws, including laws that criminalize consensual same-sex relations, or gender identity or expression. 77. The Independent Expert wishes to acknowledge and applaud the role of civil society in the collection and management of data concerning violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He is convinced that in certain contexts, this work is what has protected persons from violence and discrimination. States must acknowledge that work, recognize the expertise residing within civil society, and support and protect the sustainability of those efforts. 20