It is equally necessary to introduce a common concept of the persecution ground ‘membership of a particular social group’. For the purpose of defining a particular social group, issues arising from an applicant’s sexual orientation or gender, including gender identity and gender expression, which could be related to certain legal traditions and customs, resulting in, for example, genital mutilation, forced sterilisation or forced abortion, should be given due consideration in so far as they are related to the applicant’s well-founded fear of being persecuted. Depending on the circumstances, disability could be a characteristic for the purpose of defining a particular social group.