COVID 19 and Corruption: Catalysts for Gender Inequality

Corruption is a phenomenon that has serious and differing impacts on states. Evidence indicates that corruption has the potential to affect economic growth; it has impact on investment, taxation, public expenditures, and human development. Besides, corruption negatively affects the regulatory environment and the efficiency of institutions by distorting incentives and decision-making processes. 

The effects of corruption are not limited to the economic area, they  also contribute to inequality. The fact that corrupt actors are agents of political and economic systems means that wealth is redistributed to the least necessary sources, jeopardizing social programs and the redistributive potential of political systems. This generates a state of unequal opportunity which benefits persons  involved in corruption networks.  

Furthermore, corruption generally, affects more women than men. Gender stereotypes may result in women having to pay more bribes to get access to public services. Women are the primary caretakers of the family: if they are confronted with corruption and often coerced to pay bribes -- which represent a larger percentage of their income, compared to men-- this would reinforce the vicious cycle of poverty. 

There is evidence that exploitation of the human body, either sexually or not, can be used as a currency for corruption. Sextortion is defined as an abuse of power aiming to obtain a sexual advantage or benefit. It represents a phenomenon which has more impact on women and girls throughout Latin America, mainly in low and middle-income countries. Usually, this conduct is not included in the general definition of corruption within national legal systems. It has already been documented that frequently women and girls are forced to provide sexual favors rather than money to obtain public services, employment or operate a business. In Latin America, a report demonstrated that 1 in 5 people face sextortion when accessing government service, health care or education or know someone who has experienced it. 

A relationship between corruption and higher female mortality rate has been documented. Research demonstrates that the number of mothers who dies during birth highly increases in countries where the incidence of bribery is larger. Four hundred eighty-two women per 100,000 died during childbirth in countries where 60 percent of the population paid bribes, as opposed to only 57 women per 100,000 in countries where 30 percent or less of the population had been forced to pay bribes.

These situations are exacerbated because women still constitute 70% of the world’s poor and two thirds of the world’s illiterates. They occupy only 14% of managerial and administrative jobs, 10% of parliamentary seats and 6% of cabinet positions. In many legal systems, they are still unequal. They often work longer hours than men, but much of their work remains unvalued, unrecognized and unappreciated. 

Although corruption already seemed to be a serious and constant problem, especially in Latin America and low and middle-income countries, it has been demonstrated that the level of corruption has increased during the pandemic of COVID-19 exacerbating its effects on women. Since January, more than 1,800 people have contacted Transparency International’s worldwide network of advocacy and legal advice centers to report on and ask for assistance regarding corruption, including gender-based corruption. 

As a consequence of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, women are more likely to lose their jobs, income and savings. This erodes their independence, accelerating the feminization of poverty and making them more prone to giving in to corruption. In addition, 54% of Caribbean and Latin American women work in the informal sector as domestic workers, street vendors, subsistence farmers, seasonal workers and many other jobs. 

Secondly, women are the frontlines of the COVID-19 health response which makes them more exposed to the risk of contracting or spreading the virus. And considering that they constitute the majority of the poor, they are also more reliant on public services, and, consequently, particularly vulnerable to corruption in the health sector. Moreover, the pandemic can have serious secondary impacts on women’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, again making women vulnerable when resources are being reallocated and the political decision making power is captured by elites giving place to corruption. 

Finally, all around the globe, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of gender violence has increased and it includes sextortion, a form of corruption as stated above. 

Given all this, it is imperative that anti-corruption measures are part of the responses to COVID-19 and that they must include women. We need transparent and corruption-free policies, especially across Latin America and the Caribbean. This means that COVID-19 emergency funds and relief packages, or any other redistribution of public resources, must target women and gender budgeting (an important strategy to ensure effective public spending). Women must be included in anti-corruption decision making, including to promote transparency in government spending, ensure equal access to public services and allocate additional resources to combating gender violence.

Patricie Barricelli Zanon is a PhD candidate at Mackenzie Presbyterian University, Brazil. She has also obtained her master’s degree in Political and Economic Law, is a Professor of Criminal Law at the Faculdades Metopolitanas Unidas, Brazil, and a Researcher at the Economic Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Group.