On Women and Corruption: Three Takes from CJL’s Blog Archive

How gender impacts corruption is a question that has long preoccupied the anti-corruption field and CJL. One of the earliest posts I edited for this blog turned to field research in Jordan to examine the question of why women are less apt than men to participate in corrupt acts. While Palladium’s Agata Slota and Zainab Ravat ostensibly focus their discussion on Jordanian women, among their take-aways for practitioners is that norm-shifting anti-corruption interventions should target men.

In a related vein, Héctor Portillo and Sebastián Molanon examine the role masculinity and its more toxic manifestations may play in abetting corruption. In their post, at turns personal and always analytical, they write, “[W]e both grew up in countries where corruption is normalized to the point where not engaging in it is not only considered rare but na?ve. Coincidentally, both of our countries of origin, Mexico and Colombia, also have a deeply embedded culture of sexism and machismo. Our personal experiences with sexism, masculinities, and corruption motivated us to explore how the expectations, pressures, and privileges of ‘being a man’ can encourage or deter an individual’s engagement in corruption.”

Indeed, as these pairs of co-authors show, it’s misguided to equate “gender” as the sole province of women. Men’s lives are “also shaped by gender norms and roles.” Cheyanne Scharbatke-Church wrote these words, prompted by CJL’s work on the intersection of gender and corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Like any norm, gender norms “are not an inherent part of any culture.” And though gender norms “often change slowly over long periods, gender-based behaviors may change much more quickly.” Which means there’s no shortage of opportunities for gender-based anti-corruption interventions.

– Alexander Ralph , Former Editor, Corruption in Fragile States Blog