The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), like many international treaties, is gender blind. Yet, there is growing evidence that corruption is a factor in women’s exclusion from leadership and decision-making roles, as well as their lack of access to business opportunities, economic resources and assets such as land, and adequate public services.
The Working Group on Gender, Inclusion and Anti-Corruption will provide a forum for us to discuss these incidental issues, and see how we can move forward.
Aims and Objectives
- Influence and inspire each other by sharing experiences
- Share ideas on new research questions
- Advocate for better data on gender and corruption
- Advocate for changes in international law, policy and practices
Read about the full background, context, aims, and expected outputs and outcomes of the working group.
Guidelines and Etiquette
Please have a look at our Guidelines and Etiquette, which apply to all conversations and the exchange of information within this group and its email list. By being part of this group, you agree that you have read and will follow the guidelines set for the VoC group and its email list.
General readings and resources
General readings
- Guidance: Observing the “Do No Harm” Principle and Safeguarding the Research Process: Guidance for Anti-Corruption Research, María Constanza Castro Orduña, Gabriela Camacho Garland, Jamie Bergin, Transparency International, June 2026
- Report: Estudio de caso: La corrupción y la impunidad de Pandora y su impacto en la vida de las mujeres campesinas en Yoro, Honduras, Cespad, 2025.
- Report: AWACN Men Redefining Power: Men as allies against gendered corruption. African Women Against Corruption Network (AWACN), 2025.
- Article: Justa Mwangi (2025). Bureaucratic corruption, gender equality and gender stratification: evidence from healthcare financing policy processes in subnational governments in Kenya. Forum on Crime and Society, Volume 11.
- Statement: Laura Nyirinkindi’s closing remarks at the gender, inclusion and corruption working group’s online event on “Anti-corruption as a feminist cause: the gendered dimensions of corruption”, at the NGO CSW69/ Beijing+30 Forum, March 2025.
- Book chapter: Kelly, K. Ruka, R. 2025. Untangling the Gender-Corruption Nexus for Global Justice in the Global South, in N. Deb; M. Nair; & G.M. Muschert (eds.) Handbook of Social Justice in the Global South. EE Elger. https://www.elgaronline.com/
edcollchap/book/9781803921150/ chapter24.xml - Article: Perspective Piece: A Call to Action for Gender Equity in Climate Leadership, Britt Wray, Erika M. Veidis, Elaine C. Flores, Allison A. Phillips, Ola Alani and Michele Barry, May 2023.
- Report (ES): Impactos de la corrupción en el acceso a la justicia de las mujeres frente a la violencia de género en Honduras, Centro de estudio para la Democracia, December 2024.
- Report: Legal Framework on Sextortion/Sexual Corruption in South Africa, written by Professor Sope Williams, Stellenbosch University South Africa, published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, May 2024
- Blog: The impacts of corruption on women and their role in preventing corruption, Matthew Jenkins, August 2024.
- Report: The Chandler Papers: Sexual Corruption, Anna Petherick, Monika Bauhr and Bolaji Owasanoya, May 2024.
- Report: Global Progress Report on SDG 16, DASS, UNODC, OHCHR, Oslo Governance Centre and UNDP, September 2023.
- Article: When sex is demanded as payment for health-care services, Michele L Coleman, Manuela Colombini, Sarah Bandali, Tom Wright, Maryam Chilumpha, Dina Balabanova, May 2024.
- Blog post: Gender and corruption resolution at UNCAC-CoSP: Progress underway, yet paths to inclusion remain, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, March 2024.
- Blog: Bribe to survive: sextortion and LGBTQ discrimination, Victoria Abut, June 2022.
- U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre: Gender and Corruption – Basic Guide.
- Camacho, G.; (2021) Corruption and gender equality: a summary of existing research. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2021:9)
- Transparency International Submission to the 8th UNCAC CoSP
- Bauhr, M. et al., 2018. Close the political gender gap to reduce corruption, U4 Brief.
- Report: A gender perspective on corruption encountered during forced and irregular migration, Ortrun Merkle, Julia Reinold and Melissa Siegel, September 2017.
Sexual Corruption / Sextortion
- Elin Bjarnegård, Dolores Calvo, Åsa Eldén and Silje Lundgren (2024) What is Sexual Corruption? The challenges of raising awareness and legislating in the absence of recognition.
- Ana Linda Solano (2018) Las mujeres sufren doblemente la corrupción en América Latina. Planeta Futuro, Diario El País.
- Ana Linda Solano and Borja Díaz Rivillas (2020) Funcionarios corruptos, un eslabón imprescindible en la trata de personas. El País (Planeta Futuro).
- Ana Linda Solano and Borja Díaz Rivillas (2020) Fighting ´Sextortion´ in Latin America, published in the Voices & Views section of the European Commission’s Capacity4dev Platform.
- Ana Linda Solano, Borja Díaz Rivillas (2022) La extorsión sexual, una forma soterrada de corrupción.
- Reports on Sextortion by Partnership for Transparency Fund.
- Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; & Lundgren, Silje (2024) Sexual corruption is abuse of power – and there’s more to it than ‘sextortion’ alone, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre.
- Bjarnegård, Elin; Calvo, Dolores; Eldén, Åsa; Jonsson, Sofia & Lundgren, Silje (2023) Sex instead of Money. Conceptualizing Sexual Corruption, 2024.
- 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.
- Transparency International (2022). Criminalising sextortion: Challenges and alternatives.
- International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ), 2012. Stopping the abuse of power through sexual exploitation: naming, shaming, and ending sextortion.
- Eldén, Å., D. Calvo, E. Bjarnegård, S. Lundgren and S. Jonsson (2020), Sextortion: Corruption and Gender-Based Violence, EBA Report 2020:06, the Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA), Sweden.
- International Bar Association (IBA)/Sara Carnegie (2019) Sextortion. A crime of corruption and sexual exploitation. International Bar Association, London, UK.
- GiZ, 2021. Sextortion: Understanding and addressing sexualized corruption
Mainstreaming gender in the UNCAC and anti-corruption initiatives generally
- Merkle, O.; (2018) Mainstreaming gender and human rights in anti-corruption programming. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2018:8)
- Rahman, K.; (2021) Gender mainstreaming in the UNCAC . Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2021:14)
- Zúñiga, N.; (2020) Gender sensitivity in corruption reporting and whistleblowing. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2020:10)
- Brownie, E. 2014. Gender – the power relationship that Political Economy Analysis forgot?
Inclusion / intersectionality
- Ina Kubbe and Ortrun Merkle (2025). Breaking the silence: gender, corruption and intersectionality in whistle-blowing cases. Forum on Crime and Society, Volume 11.
- Bullock J and Jenkins M, 2020. Corruption and Marginalisation. Transparency International Helpdesk Answer
- Jenkins, M.; McDonald, E.; (2022) Corruption and the equal enjoyment of rights for persons with disabilities. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2022:7)
