Gender dimension in tax evasion and illicit financial flows
Corruption disproportionately affects women because of their care giving roles in the family. They rely more on government for services like health care, water and sanitation where they have more chances to encounter corruption with service providers.
Corruption is a global phenomenon, which affects the economic development of nations and its devastating impact hits hard on the most vulnerable groups like women children and people with disabilities.
Tackling the pandemic of corruption using gender lenses entails highlighting how men and women are affected by corruption differently.
There is no doubt that taxes are the major source of income for the government, which enables the distribution of resources and services to the public.
Vulnerable groups like women, children and people with disabilities are the main users of public resources and they rely more on the government for services such as healthcare, water and sanitation education among others.
When government fails to collect enough revenue, the vulnerable groups will suffer the most.
Women rely more on public health institutions to access services like sexual and reproductive health services and maternal care.
When there is draining of critical resources and tax evasion, government will face challenges in fulfilling its obligation of providing quality services for example quality maternal care, which may result in high maternal deaths.
Resource leakages through smuggling and tax evasion should be avoided at all costs.
Women should participate in demanding transparency and accountability in the extractive industries inorder to curb illicit financial flows and tax evasion for the benefit of the nation.
As primary users of public resources, they should be actively involved in anti-corruption initiatives and also understand the basic concept of illicit financial flows and tax evasion in relation to draining of crucial resources.
Interventions to combat transnational organised crimes, corruption, illicit financial flows and tax evasion should include speeding up the enactment of whistle blower protection legislation in order to protect whistle blowers.
Witnesses of corruption need comprehensive protection in order to avoid backlash from suspects.
Anticorruption institutions have to be more strengthened and capacitated so that they can effectively carry out their mandate to combat corruption.
Systemic corruption also needs anticorruption agencies to use sophisticated means and to cooperate with other nations to combat corruption crimes.
Zimbabwe is a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and our mandate as corruption fighters is derived from Article 13 of this instrument which says: "All member states shall take appropriate measures within its means and in accordance with fundamental principles of its domestic law to promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector such as civil society, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations, in the prevention of and fight against corruption and to raise public awareness regarding the existence, causes and gravity of and the threat caused by corruption".
Sandra Matendere (Zimbabwe Women Against Corruption Trust director)