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Gender sensitivity in corruption reporting and whistleblowing

The increasing awareness of the gendered effects of corruption calls for the creation of whistleblowing and reporting mechanisms sensible to gender differences. This demand acquires particular importance in cases of gendered forms of corruption, such as sextortion. The specialised literature suggests that gender is never a single factor that explains the differences in whistleblowing practices. Rather, it depends greatly on the context and demographic characteristics. An understanding of the variety of reasons why men and women do or do not blow the whistle, when they do it and how they do it is a first necessary step for the creation of effective gender responsive whistleblowing.

Also available in French
19 June 2020
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Gender sensitivity in corruption reporting and whistleblowing

Main points

  • Gender differences in reporting corruption are highly influenced by contextual, social and demographic characteristics.
  • Women are particularly influenced by peers, friends and family reactions to whistleblowing.
  • Confidentiality and anti-retaliation provisions are prioritised by women in their decision to blow the whistle.

Cite this publication


Zúñiga, N.; (2020) Gender sensitivity in corruption reporting and whistleblowing. Bergen: U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, Chr. Michelsen Institute (U4 Helpdesk Answer 2020:10)

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Nieves Zúñiga

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All views in this text are the author(s)’, and may differ from the U4 partner agencies’ policies.

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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