Sexual Corruption: Men Can No Longer Remain Silent
Meeting of the UNCAC Coalition: Gender, Inclusion & Corruption Working Group
Sexual Corruption: Men Can No Longer Remain Silent
Comments by Frank Vogl, October 1, 2025.
In June 2007, I heard my former World Bank colleague, the former Nigerian Minister of Finance and current head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, give a lecture where she told the story of Rose, a 21-year-old university student in Nigeria:
“Rose, from a poor rural family, could not purchase the series of class notes sold by her lecturer to students as part of the reading material for her class. The lecturer, who used these moneys to supplement his income, noticed that Rose was not purchasing the notes and penalized her through low grades for her work. When she explained she couldn’t pay she was asked to make up with other favors which she refused. The failing grade she was given was instrumental in her withdrawal from the university which put an end to her higher education. An individual and an entire family lost their hope and pathway to escape poverty. When I followed up on this story, I found that it was by no means an isolated case. It was part of a systemic rot that had befallen what had once been a very good tertiary education system in Nigeria.”[i]
A few years later I learned about the remarkable work pursued by the International Association of Women Judges under the dynamic leadership of Nancy Hendry on what it termed as sextortion, and with its 2012 publication: “Stopping the Abuse of Power through Sexual Exploitation: Naming, Shaming, and Ending Sextortion.”
Indeed, despite the important increased focus on this subject by scholars and by UNCAC, the topic of sexual corruption has in fact been on the international agenda for more than 15 years. The abuse of power in exchange for sexual gain is a fundamental violation of human rights. It is an act that should be viewed as criminal. It is a condition where overwhelmingly the perpetrators of the crimes are men, just as it is men who drive organized criminal mass human trafficking.
Human Trafficking
Our discussions of sexual corruption need to embrace issues of human trafficking and thereby make awareness among all segments of the human rights community of sexual abuse even stronger. Consider, for example, that according to a 2024 International Labor Organization report, Profits and Poverty: The economics of forced labour, “Forced commercial sexual exploitation accounts for more than two-thirds (73 per cent) of the total illegal profits (from all human trafficking), despite accounting for only 27 per cent of the total number of victims in privately imposed labour. These numbers are explained by the huge difference in per victim profits between forced commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of non-state forced labour exploitation – $27,252 profits per victim for the former against $3,687 profits per victim for the latter.
As former UK Prime Minister Theresa May wrote recently, “Modern slavery and human trafficking is indeed the greatest human rights issue of our time... a moral stain on our humanity.” And in a report that she issued, she noted that more than 50 million people are victims of slavery and human trafficking, succumbing to criminal networks that are working with corrupt public officials in many countries. The total number of victims is likely to rise in the immediate period ahead.
Male Accountability
And, yet, despite these hard facts, there is far too little focus on male accountability by the scholars and organizations – overwhelmingly driven by women – that are most engaged in curbing sexual corruption. The failure to sufficiently focus on men in campaigns to counter sexual corruption – men as perpetrators, men dominating law enforcement, and men who could be powerful allies and advocates who are engaged in other areas of human rights and anti-corruption, is an issue worthy of greater consideration.
I am sure that in many countries there are civil society organizations that consider many issues of human rights and anti-corruption and gender and that involve men in discussions and supporting roles. But I confess I sometimes feel somewhat out of place in discussions of sexual corruption in a conference room or in a web event where I discover that men seem to be outnumbered by a factor of 20-to-1, or even more, by women. I am not sure why this is. Maybe the organizers of such events are not reaching out to men. Maybe the organizers have inadequately made the case that men are absolutely vital to securing progress against sexual corruption.
Four Takeaways:
Here are 4 modest related actions that you might wish to consider as we move ahead to combat sexual corruption in all its forms:
1. We must find ways to break the silence. In many parts of the world sexual corruption is a taboo topic. This needs to change and community leaders can and must be at the forefront as must the press. To secure meaningful results, I encourage women’s rights networks to strive to include men as advocates in their campaigns – I think this is imperative if, for example, male-dominated print, radio and TV media is to be influenced.
2. Almost all issues of corruption demand leadership at the national level, with international efforts providing supportive and supplementary roles. This is especially true of sexual corruption. Big statements by international bodies, including the UN, may sound nice, but they make zero difference on the ground in the overwhelming majority of nations. Leadership must come from nationally-based civil society organizations – and I submit, not just those concerned with women’s rights – but more broadly those concerned with the full range of human rights issues.
3. Going deeper, action has to be at both the local and the national levels. At the local community levels, there is a vital need for women’s supportive networks – ones where a woman facing extortion can turn for support and where the numbers of supporters can provide protection – there are examples of this from university campuses in Nigeria to communities in India. When groups of 20, 30, or even more women come together in forums of survivors of sextortion and activists, they can change the power dynamics in communities and reduce the control of entrenched patriarchal systems. But men also have roles to play as advocates because overwhelmingly local law enforcement is in the hands of men who may too easily brush aside cases of sexual corruption unless forcefully promoted by both local women and men.
4. It is encouraging that more people in academia are looking at sexual corruption issues, and even in the roles of men, and certainly the increasing numbers of surveys is also welcome. Yet as an activist I am deeply concerned that too many organizations at the international level seem more concerned with the publication of reports and academic studies, than with supporting major activist campaigns. We know that the crimes of sexual corruption are on a vast scale – and we know that far too little is being done to counter these crimes and punish the criminals. I believe that here men and women must join together as campaigners, nationally and internationally.
Vital Roles of Men
Permit me to underscore this by quoting from a recent e-mail that I received from Marina Benavides, program coordinator in Argentina at Poder Ciudadano, the Transparency International national chapter, who wrote: “It is important to note that everything related to gender-based violence is not a women's issue alone, but of society as a whole, and it will be difficult to find a solution without involving all parties. In this regard, it will be essential to dismantle the cultural patterns that we have incorporated since early socialisation and build the capacity for men to deconstruct and rebuild themselves from a place of greater respect for all people. From our point of view, it will be key for men to arm themselves with tools that allow them to challenge biases and question their relationship with power and decision-making positions, together with a perspective of integrity. We need men to challenge other men so that it is not always women who speak out about the issues that affect and concern us on a daily basis.”
In conclusion, actions to prevent the crimes of sextortion need to be led by women, but men cannot stand on the sidelines and continue to be complicit with the abusers by their silence. These are core issues for our civilization and humanity and demand far greater concerted prevention actions – supporting on-the-ground projects to build networks to protect women, pushing for new and better laws, promoting greater public awareness of the criminal acts and their perpetrators, holding the World Bank and other agencies to account when they declare they will counter all former of gender violence, and shaming those in law enforcement who turn a blind eye to criminal acts against women.[ii]
Thank you.
[i] Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – June 2007 – Lecture at the Center for Global development, Washington DC – “Corruption: Myths & Realities in a Developing Country Context” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
http://www.cgdev.org/files/1423131_file_Sabot_2007_Okonjo_Iweala.pdf
[ii] Further information from several countries:
· The more we can fight corruption the more we can promote gender equality and the World Bank’s strategy needs to recognize this. today. Please see, for example, “Sextortion - Covert Corruption - A Case Study of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
· Madagascar in schools and universities stated that the youngest victim of sextortion that was found was a girl aged 11“Sexual Corruption in Schools and Universities,”.
· Using technology to support students in Nigeria - Using Timby To Fight Sextortion In Nigerian Universities. The power of media in promoting change – this documentary played a major role in promoting legislation - by the BBC - EYE ON AFRICA Sex for Grades: Undercover inside Nigerian and Ghanaian universities -