The recognition that individuals might have multiple marginalized identities that interact to
create vulnerabilities is at the heart of a growing interest in intersectionality within the economic
development field (Badiee, Borrowman, and Buvinic, 2024). Early discussions about intersectionality
often focused on the varying experiences of women whose racial or ethnic identities placed them
in multiply marginalized positions. A broader view of intersectionality now pulls in more identities,
including age, disability, migration status, and others, which have increased the demands on data
collection and analysis in the development context (Badiee and Buvinic, 2024). This discussion
paper discusses some opportunities and challenges of generating data on an often-overlooked set
of identities: sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and variations in sex characteristics,
commonly abbreviated as SOGIESC.
