Elin Bjarnegård leads research into sexual corruption

Sexual corruption occurs all over the world and at all levels of society. Yet the term remains relatively unknown.

“We define it as the abuse of power for personal gain in the form of sex,” says Elin Bjarnegård.

She leads Uppsala University Research Environment on Sexual Corruption and the research project “Sexual corruption. Understanding, measuring and preventing abuse of power for sex”.

“It is a missing piece of the puzzle. Corruption legislation assumes that money or services are involved. Sexual corruption does not really qualify as a sexual offence either, as there is a certain degree of voluntary exchange.”

The exchange can be mistaken for consent

The exchange was previously referred to as sextortion, but describing the phenomenon as a form of corruption shifts the focus away from the victim and towards the person abusing their power.

When a teacher offers a student a grade in exchange for a sexual act, or when a police officer refrains from arresting someone in exchange for sex, this constitutes sexual corruption. It could also be a role in a theatre production, a spot on a sports team, a residence permit or a professional position that is at stake.

“There are anecdotal examples everywhere. It could be a matter of giving advantages or taking away rights in exchange for sexual acts.”

The exchange that takes place can easily be interpreted as consent on the part of the victim, which creates further stigmatisation. Elin Bjarnegård wants to stress that these cases do not involve full consent, but rather conditional consent.

“We’ve all heard the expression ‘sleeping your way to the top’. However, we have no terminology for the people in positions of power who make it possible to ‘sleep your way to the top’. The victims feel that they are complicit,” she says.

A globally unique research environment at Uppsala University

The research environment, funded by the Swedish Research Council, was established in 2025. The aim is to contribute new knowledge on how sexual corruption can best be understood, measured and prevented. To date, it is the only research environment in the world with this focus. In her previous research, Elin Bjarnegård has focused on both economic corruption and gender equality issues.

“My doctoral thesis was about male networks and corruption. I have been working with gender and politics throughout my career. Virtually all of my research has concerned people, often men, who abuse their power.”

However, the concept of sexual corruption was new even to her when a colleague told her about a case within Sida that nobody really wanted to tackle because it did not fit into any existing category.

“In a world where gender equality is not a top priority, we have received a great deal of attention both within and outside academia. Quite a lot has actually happened since we began researching this area, both in Sweden and in international arenas,” says Elin Bjarnegård.

A wealth of knowledge to be gained from civil society

At Uppsala University, it began with a three-year research project on Tanzania, a country that stands out for having specific legislation against sexual corruption. Together with her colleagues Silje Lundgren, Åsa Eldén and Dolores Calvo, Elin Bjarnegård also runs the UU Innovation company BLEC, which aims to translate research into practical work for change within organisations and businesses.

“There is a huge demand for knowledge, more than we can handle within the framework of research. That is why we started the company,” says Elin Bjarnegård, who also wishes to highlight the important role of civil society in the work to understand and prevent sexual corruption.

“Civil society has worked much more on these issues than academia; they are the ones who know the most.”

Important not to criminalise victimhood

An important step in preventing sexual corruption is to facilitate reporting and whistleblowing. Legislation needs to change in this regard. Even though the offences in question can be classified under other laws, the propensity to report them is currently very low. Sexual corruption is now mentioned for the first time in a recent Swedish report on new anti-corruption legislation.

“If you know what crime has been committed, it is easier to report it. It is also important not to criminalise victimhood; only the person who abuses their power should be considered guilty,” says Elin Bjarnegård, who also believes that we cannot rely solely on legislation.

“We also need policies and guidelines at an organisational level. There are policies against other forms of corruption, but sexual corruption also needs to be viewed from the perspective of abuse of power, rather than who is having sex with whom”.

Many have experienced the phenomenon

Although sexual corruption is a relatively new concept, Elin Bjarnegård explains that many people say they have experienced it when the phenomenon is explained to them. This became particularly clear when the research team published an opinion piece in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter in 2025. They received several calls from people who realised that they, or someone close to them, had been a victim of sexual corruption. Prosecutors have testified that they have seen many cases that could be classified as sexual corruption, without realising that it was a form of corruption.

“Something that many people have experienced has finally been given a name,” says Elin Bjarnegård.

Sigrid Asker