Corruption through a gendered lens
THIS year’s International Women’s Day campaign theme ‘Invest in Women, Accelerate progress’ for Transparency International alongside its National Chapter in Formation Integrity Fiji released its report findings in December 2023 titled Corruption Through a Gendered Lens.
A series of focus group discussions (FGDs) with participants from four Asian and Pacific countries: Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia and Sri Lanka were held in 2023. The research was based on the Global Corruption Barometer (GCB) Survey in Asia (2020) and the Pacific (2021).
Specifically, this article reports on the FGD findings for Fiji and looks at the GCB 2021 Survey for the Pacific to contextualise findings on sextortion that have a bearing on corruption through a gendered lens.
The FGDs sought to deepen understanding of key findings from analyses of the GCB that examined the relationship between gender and attitudes to and experiences with corruption. The discussions explored gender norms, inequality and how gender shapes peoples’ experiences with public officials.
The key themes in the Focus Group Discussions highlighted the following issues;
■ Gender norms: Entrenched gender norms support male dominance and leadership and encourage women to be socially passive and take on domestic/ caretaking roles;
■ Corruption patterns: Women have unique sources of vulnerability to corruption and are more likely to be victims of sextortion which involves “an implicit or explicit request to an individual to engage in any kind of unwanted sexual activity in exchange for exercising power entrusted to someone occupying a position of authority”;
■ Intersectional experiences: Intersectional factors such as being a woman and having a disability, or being poor, living in a rural area, working as a sex worker and/or being part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community were discussed in FGDs as uniquely shaping experiences with public officials and corruption;
■ Reporting corruption: Gender norms shape willingness to report corruption; and
■ Refusing to engage in corruption: Gender norms also shape refusal to engage in corruption. Women shouldering caretaking responsibilities may fear that refusing to engage in corruption will undermine their family’s access to services.
Awareness of accountability rights and institutions. Analysis of the GCB shows women are less likely aware of their right to request information from public institutions, and of their country’s anti-corruption commission.
Fiji FGD Findings
In Fiji, findings from the FGD report reveal agreement that sextortion’s roots lie in gender norms that encourage men to be “sexually charged” and to sexually objectify women.
Findings also show rural dwelling women in the county are disproportionately impacted by gender norms, which are entrenched in rural communities. This particularly affects women with disabilities who are excluded from speaking out.
Rural women, perceived as more vulnerable, are easy targets for bribery, due to the assumption that they lack knowledge about their rights and entitlements.
This perception extends to women in general compared to men, resulting in less awareness of their rights and limited ability to seek the information.
The lack of adequate genderresponsive interventions by the government further hinders women in overcoming these obstacles. Therefore, it is crucial to implement targeted measures and promote awareness of women’s rights and entitlements.
An interesting result is that women tend to worry more about the impact on the families of corruption perpetrators if the wrongdoer faces punishment. As a result, they may not report corruption.
Insights like this in the Fijian context underscore the importance of engaging in specific discussions with local stakeholders – to understand diverse factors at play, like population size, geography, traditions and social norms. By doing so, interventions will be tailored to the unique dynamics of the country.
GCB Pacific sextortion Sexual extortion – or “sextortion” – is a very concerning issue in the Pacific. Over 40 per cent of Pacific respondents believe sextortion happens at least occasionally.
While country results vary greatly, 38 per cent across the region said they or someone they knew had experienced sextortion in the last five years.
Pacific results show that almost four in ten respondents across the region (38 per cent) have received requests from public officials that are sexual in nature in exchange for government services or benefits at least once in the past five years or know someone who has.
The highest rate was reported in French Polynesia, where an alarming 92 per cent of respondents expressed having experienced this form of corruption themselves or knowing someone who has.
Extremely high rates of sextortion were also reported in New Caledonia (76 per cent) and Papua New Guinea (51 per cent). Much lower rates were found in Fiji (11 per cent), Samoa (10 per cent) and Tonga (5 per cent).
The high Pacific regional average aligns with the high rates of sexual and gender-based violence recorded in the region,59 which far exceed the global average. Corruption Perception Index
2023
Every year Transparency International releases findings from the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which is an index that ranks countries “by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.” The CPI generally defines corruption as an “abuse of entrusted power for private gain”.
For five years in a row, the average CPI score for the Asia Pacific region stagnates at 45 out of a possible 100. Very few countries show sustained turnarounds that indicate significant changes in corruption levels.
The 2023 CPI further emphasised the interconnection between corruption and social injustice, highlighting how corruption can perpetuate preexisting discrimination based on factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, and religion. Gender disparities and power imbalances make women and girls particularly susceptible to certain types of corruption, such as sextortion.
It is crucial for countries like Fiji and other countries in the region to make anti-corruption policies gender sensitive and contextually appropriate.
Improving access to justice and establishing corruption reporting mechanisms that consider how gender influences people’s willingness to report it, as well as recognizing the intersectional factors that act as barriers to justice, are vital steps in this endeavour.
■ LOSANA TUIRAVIRAVI is a Pacific regional co-ordinator of Transparency International. SIKELI NAKETECA handles Media at CLCT Integrity Fiji / Transparency Fiji. The views in this article belong to the authors and do not reflect the views of this newspaper.