Sexual Corruption
Understanding and Taking Action against Sexual Abuse of Power
Details
- Period: 2022-01-01 – 2024-12-31
- Funder: Swedish Research Council
Sexual corruption (sometimes referred to as 'sextortion') occurs when a person with entrusted authority abuses this authority to obtain a sexual favor. The quid pro quo (this for that) of sexual corruption involves conditioning a service or benefit, which is connected to the entrusted position, on a sexual favor. “Sex for grades” is just one example of sexual corruption, where a teacher obtains a sexual favor from a student in exchange for grades or exam results. With a focus on the sexual abuse of power, we suggest that this phenomenon is reframed as "grades for sex".
Even though cases of sexual corruption are common around the world, they are often not recognized or dealt with, says project leader Elin Bjarnegård. We think this is because sexual corruption does not neatly fit the definition of neither corruption, nor gender based violence. This is why it is so important to shed light on the particular phenomenon of sexual corruption.
Sexual corruption takes place at the intersection between corruption and gender-based violence. Just like corruption, sexual corruption involves the abuse of entrusted authority for personal gain, but the currency of the corrupt exchange is sex. Just like in gender-based violence, sexual corruption involves coerced sexual acts enabled by unequal gender norms, but the transactional aspect blurs the issue of consent.
Theoretically, the project will demonstrate the implications of sex as the currency of a corrupt transaction. Empirically, it will investigate how action can be taken against sexual corruption in a development project. With a definition of sexual corruption emphasizing the abuse of authority and the role of gender norms, the project closely follows a process around formulating and implementing policy about sexual corruption in a non-governmental organization working with adult education in Tanzania.
Project members
Advisory Board
Marie Chêne, Head of Research at Transparency International’s Secretariat.
Anna Collins Falk, International Coordinator at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. Former Head of UN Women Tanzania in 2013.
Nancy Hendry, Senior Advisor at the International Association of Women Judges.
Sofia Jonsson, Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Bergen.
Ortrun Merkle, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Maastricht.
Helena Reuterswärd, Policy Specialist for Education at Sida HQ.
Mwanahamisi Singano, Project Manager at FEMNET.
Ann Towns, Professor at the Department of Government, University of Gothenburg.
Publications
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; & Lundgren, Silje (2024) “What is sexual corruption? Challenges of raising awareness and legislating in the absence of recognition”. Forum on Crime and Society, vol 11. Special Issue on the Gender Dimensions of Corruption. Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM).
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa & Lundgren, Silje (2024) “Sexual corruption is abuse of power – and there’s more to it than ‘sextortion’ alone”, The U4 Blog, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre at Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, 11 June 2024.
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; Jonsson, Sofia & Lundgren, Silje (2024). Sex instead of money: Conceptualizing sexual corruption. Governance, 37(4), pp. 1349–1367. https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12844.
Lundgren, Silje; Eldén, Åsa; Calvo, Dolores & Bjarnegård, Elin (2023) Sextortion: Linking sexual violence and corruption in Sweden and Norway, in M. Lundqvist; K. Widegren & A. Simonsson (eds.) Re-imagining Sexual Harassment: Perspectives from the Nordic Region. Bristol University Press (Policy Press).
Eldén, Åsa & Bjarnegård, Elin (2022) Implementing Policy Against Sextortion in Tanzania: A follow-up study, EBA Working Paper, September 2022, The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA).
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa & Lundgren, Silje (2022) Sextortion: Corruption Shaped by Gender Norms, in I. Kubbe & O. Merkle (eds.) Corruption and Gender: The Role of Norms, Edward Elgar Publishing.
Eldén, Åsa; Calvo, Dolores; Bjarnegård, Elin; Lundgren, Silje & Jonsson, Sofia (2020) Sextortion: Corruption and Gender-Based Violence, EBA report 2020:06, The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA).