Gendered Corruption: How Gender Norms Underpin Experiences of Corruption in Asian and Pacific Countries

Abstract

There is a growing recognition that corruption not only exacerbates gender inequality, but that gender inequality undermines anticorruption efforts. As such, anticorruption policy actors are increasingly asked to ‘mainstream gender’ into their work. Doing so effectively requires an understanding of how and why experiences of corruption are gendered in specific contexts. Drawing on findings from a series of 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) held in Cambodia Fiji, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka, which gathered the views of 139 participants, this research offers the first examination how and why experiences with corruption are gendered in Asian and Pacific contexts. A focus on gender norms in the FGDs helps to get at why it is that women experience grass-roots corruption differently. The findings make clear that corruption cannot be effectively controlled without challenging gender norms that make women uniquely vulnerable to corruption and prevent many from resisting and reporting corruption.