Uppsala University Research Environment on Sexual Corruption – UURESC
Sexual corruption is the abuse of power for personal gain in the form of sex. UU-RESC - Uppsala University Research Environment on Sexual Corruption - contributes to knowledge on how sexual corruption is understood, measured and prevented. The focus is on the sectors of higher education and the judiciary, in Scandinavia and South Africa, among others.
Details
- Period: 2025-01-01 – 2030-12-31
- Budget: 18,000,000 SEK
- Funder: Swedish Research Council
If a teacher offers a student a grade in exchange for a sexual act, or a police officer refrains from detaining a person in exchange for sex, this is not only sexually inappropriate behaviour. It is also corruption, i.e. the abuse of a position of power for personal gain. This phenomenon is known as sexual corruption and occurs in many parts of the world. Despite this, sexual corruption often falls between the lines of responsibility.
Based on the research project Sexual Corruption, funded by the Swedish Research Council, we are now building a large and long-term research environment to contribute new knowledge on how sexual corruption can best be understood, measured and prevented. The focus lies on the sectors of higher education and the judiciary, first in South Africa and Scandinavia and later on with a wider scope. The research environment (UU-RESC) will also contribute to identifying legislation that can be used to prosecute sexual corruption internationally, and to safe forms of reporting and preventing sexual corruption. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Quality of Government Institute (QoG), Transparency International (TI), and the UNCAC Coalition, three leading international actors in the fight against corruption.
Research leader Elin Bjarnegård says:
I really value the opportunity to lead the development of a research environment and knowledge hub around sexual corruption. Building on our previous and ongoing work, and collaborating with world-leading experts in both academia and policy, I am confident that we will significantly improve knowledge, data and prevention measures. Sex is a missing piece in the corruption puzzle.
Project members
Publications
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; & Lundgren, Silje (2025) What is sexual corruption? The challenges of raising awareness and legislating in the absence of recognition, Forum on Crime and Society, Volume 11, number 1. Special Issue on the Gender Dimensions of Corruption.
Lundgren, Silje & Wieslander, Malin (2025) Holding the harasser responsible: Implications of identifying sexual harassment that includes abuse of power and quid pro quo elements as sexual corruption, Gender, Work and Organization, 32(1), pp. 181–201.
Jonsson, Sofia (2025) Sexual Corruption and Political (Dis)trust, Political Studies, 0(0).
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; Jonsson, Sofia & Lundgren, Silje (2024). Sex instead of money: Conceptualizing sexual corruption, Governance, 37(4), pp. 1349–1367.
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).
Communication
När korruption blir sexuellt våld, podcast episode Institutet Mot Mutor Podcast [in Swedish] with Åsa Eldén, Parul Sharma (Institutet Mot Mutor), and Ulrika Grandin (UN Women Sweden), 15 October 2025.
Vad är sexuell korruption? Interview [in Swedish] with Elin Bjarnegård, P1 Morgon, Sveriges Radio, 8 August 2025.
Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa & Lundgren, Silje (2025) Sexuell korruption är inte som andra mutbrott, DN Debatt [in Swedish], 7 August 2025.
New company aims to prevent corruption involving sex as currency, Interview with Elin Bjarnegård, Dolores Calvo, Åsa Eldén, Silje Lundgren, Uppsala University news, 11 June 2025.
New Research Grant to Establish a Research Environment on Sexual Corruption, Interview with Elin Bjarnegård, Department of Government, Uppsala University, 16 January 2025.
Lundgren, Silje (2024) Vi måste prata om sexuell korruption, Parabol, Nummer 12-2024.
TI Sverige samtalar om sexuell corruption, Interview [in Swedish] with Elin Bjarnegård and Silje Lundgren, Transparency Internation Sweden podcast, 18 October 2024.
It becomes too easy to look at women as a deviation, Interview with Elin Bjarnegård, AcademiaNet, 18 June 2024.
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.
Sexual abuse of power: Taking action against sextortion in Tanzania, Interview with Elin Bjarnegård, Department of Government, Uppsala University, May 2022.
Awarded projects granted by the Swedish Research Council, Interview with Elin Bjarnegård, Swedish Development Research Network, 16 May 2022.
Sextortion: Nytt namn på gammalt fenomen, Interview with Åsa Eldén [in Swedish], Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA).
Sextortion – när kvinnor måste betala mutor med sin kropp, Interview with Åsa Eldén [in Swedish], OmVärlden, 11 November 2020.
Sex, korruption och utvecklingssamarbete, podcast episode Expert Group for Aid Studies Podcast [in Swedish] with Åsa Eldén, Ulrik Åshuvud (Transparency International Sweden), and Mia Mjengwa Bergdahl (Karibu Org Tanzania), 27 January 2021.
Conferences
Elin Bjarnegård, “Corruption and gender: main issues and priorities”, keynote, Anti-corruption as a feminist cause: the gendered dimensions of power abuse, session at the 69th NGO Committee on the Status for Women Forum, Online, 21 March 2025.
Elin Bjarnegård, “Unveiling an Open Secret: Moving Towards Justice and Legal Recognition of Sexual Corruption”, panel at Transparency International Global Summit (online), 9 October 2024.
Elin Bjarnegård, “Sexual Corruption: What it is and Why it Matters?”, CSW68 Virtual Forum, UN Commission on the Status of Women, 13 March 2024.
Åsa Eldén, "Ending Sex for Education, Fees, Grades and First Jobs", Wilton Park, Sussex, 12-14 June 2023.
Silje Lundgren, “Sextortion at the Intersection of Gender Based Violence and Corruption”, g22 conference, Karlstad, 26-28 October 2022.
Elin Bjarnegård, “Sex is different from Money: Conceptualizing Sextortion as Corruption”, European Conference on Politics and Gender (ECPG) Conference, Ljubljana, July 6-8 2022.
Åsa Eldén & Silje Lundgren, “Sexual Abuse of Authority: Taking Action against Sextortion in Tanzania”, NORA Conference, NORA, June 20-22 2022.
Seminars and Talks
“Sexuell Korruption – Internationellt och i Sverige”, presentation [in Swedish] by Elin Bjarnegård and Silje Lundgren at Antikorruptionsforum 2025, Transparency International Sverige, Stockholm, 20 March 2025.
Vad är sexuell korruption – och vad har det med vår organisation att göra?, Elin Bjarnegård, Presentation [in Swedish] at TeA-dagen, Nätverket för teknisk- och administrativ personal (TeA ), Uppsala University, Uppsala, 13 March 2025.
Negotiating responsibility for sexual corruption: A scenario-based analysis of abuse of entrusted power for sexual gain, Elin Bjarnegård and Åsa Eldén, Uppsala Gender and Politics Seminar (UPPGAP), Department of Government, Uppsala University, 20 January 2025.
Vad är sexuell korruption?, Elin Bjarnegård, Presentation [in Swedish] at En kvart över, Uppsala Library, Uppsala University, 6 November 2024.
Från ett dilemma på Sida, via två EBA-rapporter, till spjutspetsforskning och en FN-deklaration, Elin Bjarnegård and Åsa Eldén, Presentation [in Swedish], The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA), Stockholm, 31 May 2024.
Sextortion in education, based on our project in Tanzania, Dolores Calvo, Expert Talks, WIN - Water Integrity Network, 7 June 2023.
Sex is Different from Money: Conceptualizing Sextortion as Corruption, Åsa Eldén, Presentation, UNCAC Gender, Inclusion and Corruption Working Group meeting, 24 May 2023.
Sex is Different from Money: Conceptualizing Sextortion as Corruption, Elin Bjarnegård, Seminar, Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 11 May 2023.
Sextortion: linking sexual violence and corruption in a Nordic context, Silje Lundgren, The violence seminar series, Centre for studies on violence, Örebro University, 28 April 2023.
Sextortion: Corruption Shaped by Gender Norms, Elin Bjarnegård, Book launch (online): Norms, Gender and Corruption- Understanding the Nexus edited by Ina Kubbe and Ortrun Merkle, 26 January 2022.
Sexual Abuse of Authority: Taking action against Sextortion in Tanzania, Elin Bjarnegård, Uppsala Gender and Politics Seminar (UPPGAP), Department of Government, Uppsala University, 1 March 2022.
Sex, korruption och bistånd. Hur bekämpar vi ”sextortion”?, Åsa Eldén, EBA seminar at The Swedish Forum for Human Rights (MR-dagarna) [in Swedish], 21 April 2021.
Vad är Sextortion och hur kan biståndet bekämpa det?, Dolores Calvo and Åsa Eldén, Presentation [in Swedish] of the report “Sextortion: Corruption and Gender-Based Violence”, 11 November 2020.
Sextortion: Corruption and Gender-Based Violence [in Swedish], Expert Group for Aid Studies, Presentation, November 2020.
Workshops
Sexuell Korruption, workshop with Elin Bjarnegård, Dolores Calvo, Åsa Eldén and Silje Lundgren at Statskontoret, Myndighetsnätverk mot korruption, Stockholm, 23 September 2024.
Towards a common understanding of the concept Sexual Corruption (online), workshop with Dolores Calvo and Silje Lundgren at Transparency International Latin America, 17 September 2024.
Towards a common understanding of the concept Sexual Corruption (online), workshop with Elin Bjarnegård and Åsa Eldén at Transparency International Africa, 11 September 2024.
Towards a common understanding of the concept of sextortion …or sexual corruption …or ‘sex for grades/jobs/contracts’, workshop with Elin Bjarnegård and Åsa Eldén at Transparency International, Berlin, 9 February 2024.
Sex for grades/jobs/contracts, workshop with Elin Bjarnegård and Åsa Eldén at The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Bonn, 7 February 2024.
Sex for grades, workshop with Elin Bjarnegård, Dolores Calvo, Åsa Eldén and Silje Lundgren at The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Stockholm, 9 January 2024.
Affiliated researchers
Jude Schönberg, PhD Student, University of Basel, Switzerland jude.schoenberg@unibas.ch