In the recent past, a form of gender based corruption known as “sextortion” has strongly manifested in the country. Sextortion occurs when a person who occupies a position of authority and public trust (particularly male) abuses their power by demanding sexual favors for some benefit that he has the power to grant or withhold. In this case, the currency of bribe is sex rather than money. In Uganda, cases of this type of corruption have been reported in a number of settings especially in education, employment, and dealings with government bureaucrats and private sector. Although there have been cases where males have been victims, these are rear cases. Females are more of a victim than males. Accordingly, this article focuses on females as victims
In education, sextortion manifests almost at all levels. In primary schools some female pupils (especially in higher primary) are lured into sex by their teachers in exchange for gifts and good marks in class. While this type of corruption may be lower at primary level, it’s much higher at secondary and university/tertiary level. Some male teachers especially in higher institutions of learning withhold marks for female students or deliberately under mark them and then in turn ask the students for sexual favours in order to get better grades. This has given rise to slang such as “sex for marks”, “Sexually Transmitted Degrees” and many others. While some students unwillingly concede to such demands for fear of the repercussions of refusing, some have resisted. Either way, the consequences are immense and can easily exacerbate gender inequality. Sextortion has had far-reaching consequences some of which include; the increased number of school dropouts and failure of female students at higher levels of learning to complete their courses on time, lower morale due to bad grades and accumulation of retakes amidst hard work, lower concentration in class, unwanted pregnancies and early marriages, plus the increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
In the labour market, male employers demand for sexual relationship from female job seekers before offering them jobs and/or after job offer. Some use it as a prerequisite for a female employee to get their overtime pay. This has increasingly become common in Uganda as evidenced from the increase in the cases of work-related sexual harassment reported. Such acts have discouraged some females from searching for job and made others abandon their jobs. No wonder the gender inequality in employment seems to be increasing as evident from the increase in the gap between the labour force participation rate for males and that of females from 13.2 percent in 2012/13 to 16.3 percent in 2016/17 (UNHS, 2012/13 & UNHS 2016/17). Such statistics imply that females are slowly getting excluded from the labour market. It’s also important to note that, there are women who also do not put in effort because they think they can sexually buy their way up through the system hence it’s gradually becoming a norm where women expect free things because they are willing to offer sex. This affects productivity, and competitiveness between men and women and hence increases inequality. This inequality poses a threat to attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and particularly inclusive growth.
Sextortion also manifests when females are asked for a sexual affair by male government bureaucrats in exchange for a government-issued document like a permit or an operating license. As a result, some women have given up on applying for such documents which in turn exacerbates their exclusion from the formal sector.
In spite of the above, Sextortion as a form of corruption remains under-reported or prosecuted compared to other forms of corruption. The poor reporting habits and limited prosecution can be attributed to factors such as; lack of awareness, social stigma, and weak legal and institutional frameworks. Corruption statute narrowly focuses on financial bribes especially from public officials and does not encompass acts of sextortion. Despite the fact that sexual harassment and gender-based violence laws hint on the kind of abuse involved in sextortion, the laws only address the forms of sexual exploitation rather than sextortion as a form of corruption. Consequently, gender-based laws are not designed to address situations in which the victim surrenders, albeit not voluntarily, to the coercive power of a corrupt authority. Indeed, some gender-based violence laws require evidence of physical force or refusal by the victim, which was deemed a significant hurdle to prosecuting the culprits. Moreover, with the inefficient justice system in Uganda characterized by corruption, apprehending the guilty parties remains hefty.
In conclusion, Sextortion exacerbates gender inequality and hampers a woman’s development by among others, limiting access to education, employment and other public services. As such measures need to be taken to address this form of corruption, some of which include; raising awareness about this form of corruption, redefining sextortion both as a form of corruption and a criminal offence and be included in national, institutional legal frameworks and anti-corruption efforts. Better still, a formal and confidential platform to receive and register complaints should be put in place to ensure that incidences of sextortion are investigated with guaranteed confidentiality to the victims. This can be enhanced through the use of the evolving technology like social media to capture evidence.