A list of resources, relevant literature, and background reading from the event ‘Anti-corruption as a feminist cause’.
Betina Pasteknik and Isabella Moggs also produced a blog summarising the discussions.
The links between gender and corruption
Bukuluki, P. 2024. Gender norms, social norms and corruption: Exploring the link. CJL blog, 9 June 2024.
Dollar, D., Fisman, R., and Gatti, R. 2001. Are women really the “fairer” sex? Corruption and women in government. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 46(4): 423–429.
Merkle, O. and Kubbe. I. 2023. Gender and corruption: What we’ve learned from 20 years of research (part 1). U4 Blog, 4 December 2023.
Merkle. O. 2022. Anti-corruption and gender: The role of women’s political participation. Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
Sida (Swedish Development Cooperation Agency). 2022. Gender equality and corruption. Brief, Thematic Support Unit, June 2022.
Swamy, A., Knack, S., Lee, Y. and Azfar.O., 2000. Gender and corruption. Journal of Development Economics 64(1): 25–55.
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). 2020. Mainstreaming gender in corruption projects/programmes. Briefing note for UNODC staff.
UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime). 2020. The time is now: Addressing the gender dimensions of corruption.
Sexual corruption: An under-legislated, under-reported abuse of power
Bauhr, M., Owasanoye, B., Petherick, A. 2024. Sexual Corruption: Emerging Directions in Research and Policy. The Chandler Papers: 9. University of Oxford.
Bjarnegård, E., Calvo, D., Eldén, Å., and Lundgren, S. 2024b. Sexual corruption is abuse of power – and there’s more to it than ‘sextortion’ alone. U4 Blog, 11 June 2024.
Bjarnegård, E., Calvo, D., Eldén, Å., Jonsson, S., and Lundgren, S. 2024a. Sex instead of money: Conceptualizing sexual corruption. Governance 37(4): 1349–1367.
Isaac, M. and Gill, A. K. 2025. Gender-based corruption: An exploration of sexual corruption in migration contexts in the UK. Journal of Gender-Based Violence (early view).
Lundgren, S., Eldén, Å., Calvo, D., and Bjarnegård, E. 2023. Sextortion: Linking sexual violence and corruption in Sweden and Norway. In Re-imagining Sexual Harassment: Perspectives from the Nordic Region, eds M. Lundqvist, K. Widegren, and A. Simonsson. Bristol University Press (Policy Press).
Merkle, O., Allakulov, U., Gonzalez, D., Sanzes, A. H., Rabbi, S. E., and Hasan, Z. 2023. When vulnerabilities are exploited. The role of sextortion in the WASH sector in Bangladesh. Frontiers in Water 5.
Pacilli, M. G., Alemi, M. S., Spaccatini, F., Giovannelli, I., Uskul, A. K., Pagliaro S. 2024. Bystanders’ reactions to a woman vVictim of sextortion: Moral outrage, victim blaming and reputational damage. European Journal of Social Psychology 0: 1–15.
Williams, S. 2024. Legal framework on sextortion/sexual corruption in South Africa. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
Everyday corruption and its gendered impact
Transparency International, Global corruption barometer.
Camacho, G. 2021. Corruption and gender equality: A summary of existing research. U4 Helpdesk Answer 2021:9. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Jenkins, M. 2024. The impacts of corruption on women and their role in preventing corruption. U4 Helpdesk Answer 2024:25. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Zúñiga, N. 2020. Gender sensitivity in corruption reporting and whistleblowing. U4 Helpdesk Answer 2020. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Bergin, J. and Transparency International. 2024. Left behind: Corruption in health and education services in Africa. Transparency International.
Rethinking anti-corruption frameworks from a feminist, gender-transformative perspective
Global Fund for Women. 2024. Funding feminist movements to fight corruption. 23 May.
Maslen, C. 2024. Gender transformative approaches to anti-corruption. U4 Helpdesk Answer 2024:37. U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute.
Kelly, K. and Ruka, R. 2025. Untangling the gender-corruption nexus for global justice in the Global South. In Handbook of Social Justice in the Global South, eds N. Deb, M. Nair, and G. M. Muschert. Edward Elgar Publishing.