WUNRN
WOMEN & CORRUPTION - PERVASIVE
CHALLENGES IN MALE-DOMINATED SOCIETIES - ORGANIZING, & TARGETING POWER ARE
KEY
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The Impact of Corruption on Women - Strategies for Change
B Julie DiMauro - May 5, 2014
Photo courtesy of Transparency International via YouTube
Corruption is
not restricted to any geographical location or industry -- but it has some
specifically wrenching consequences for those who wield little power, such as
women in male-dominated societies.
An October
2012 United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) survey of
women's perspectives on corruption revealed both how women interpret corruption
and have been affected by it, particularly in developing countries.
The study
focused on eight countries in Latin America, Africa and
The
respondents interpreted "corruption" to mean the giving or taking of
bribes, physical abuse, lack of access to food and other basic supplies, and a
lack of access to essential information and employment.
The survey
findings included:
- Women's experience of corruption
is concentrated in the realm of public-sector delivery. Poor women often
interface with public agencies to get basic services for their families,
and 39% of women reported having to pay a bribe to receive them.
- Women said the service area or
agency they perceived as most corrupt was their local police (20%). Coming
in second, local governments were labeled most corrupt by 11% of women.
UNDP said this likely means anti-corruption initiatives being implemented
in some regions on the federal level are not trickling down to
communities.
- Bribery was the activity women
most associated with the term "corruption," with 63% of women
reporting they have been asked to pay a bribe, typically to gain access to
public goods and services (39%).
The UNDP
authors said women in developing countries largely work in the "informal
economy," in jobs at the grassroots level, so they are particularly
subject to requests for bribery to acquire licenses or work supplies, or obtain
a small-business loan.
In the
survey, 16% of the women said they had to pay a bribe to gain access to the
official documents they needed to work, put their kids in school or use banking
services, such as birth certificates, proof of income or marriage licenses.
When asked
what they thought would contribute to a more just society, 83% of women thought
"women leaders could provide leadership that is more responsive to
grassroots communities and less subject to corruption."
Of those women who pushed back against corruption in their societies, harnessing the media (27%) was the most popular strategy to publicly expose instances of corruption.
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Subject: Corruption & Women - Grassroots Women's Perspectives -
Report +
WUNRN
Huairou Commission
Grassroots Women's Perspectives on Corruption
“Grassroots women
experience corruption as endemic, pervasive, and as a part of everyday life
experience. ”
When grassroots women
organize at the community level to design and implement anti-corruption
strategies, they build gender sensitive governance that leads to improved
service delivery, increased access to justice, and decreasing levels of
corruption and poverty.
Corruption
is a symptom of a larger problem
Grassroots
women focus on improving governance structures to reduce corruption and
increase access to service and justice
Non-confrontational
strategies are more effective at the grassroots level
Partnering
with civil servants, service providers and government authorities to promote
transparency and accountability creates safe and sustainable mechanisms to
reduce corruption
Organizing
is the key to creating incentives to stop corruption
Grassroots
women are more empowered to raise their voices against corruption if they
belong to a grassroots organization. They feel supported and confident to
address misuse of power.
Knowing the
budget is crucial for monitoring public spending and influencing service
delivery
Access to
budget information varies from country to country. When this information is
updated in real time and accessible, grassroots organizations can better
monitor and act on misuse of public money
Grassroots
women and youth are affected differently by corruption
In the case of
women, sexual demands and physical abuse are two ways that corruption
manifests; therefore, anti-corruption mechanisms focused on only bribery would
not be able to reduce corruption from the perspective of grassroots
women.
Bottom-up and
top-down approaches are complementary in reducing corruption
Grassroots
women have developed important mechanisms to improve service delivery and
access to justice.
Policy and legal reforms have the potential of creating sustainable and
responsive governance structures to recognize and scale grassroots women-led
initiatives. It is thus important to partner with policy makers.
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GRASSROOTS WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES ON
CORRUPTION & ANTI-CORRUPTION
Direct Link to Full 64-Page Report:
