The abuse of power and position in exchange for sexual favours – sextortion – is both a form of corruption and of gender-based violence, which makes it difficult to address. How should the concept of sextortion be defined and understood in order to best tackle sextortion in policy and practice? Which dynamics of sextortion can be identified at the country level and how can it be better dealt with in development cooperation? These questions are addressed in the EBA-report Sextortion: Corruption and Gender-Based Violence.
The authors map existing knowledge, identify gaps and present case studies of sextortion in Tanzania and Colombia. The report concludes that the power asymmetry and transactional aspect associated with sextortion are central to its understanding and lists recommendations of how to address sextortion in development work.
Authors
Åsa Eldén, PhD in Sociology, Uppsala University
Dolores Calvo, PhD in Sociology from the University of Gothenburg
Elin Bjarnegård, PhD in Political Science and Associate Professor at Uppsala University
Silje Lundgren, PhD in Cultural Anthropology, Uppsala University
Sofia Jonsson, PhD in Political Science, University of Gothenburg