Sexual corruption victims urged on timely case reporting

Victims of sexual corruption are encouraged to report about their ordeal soon enough to facilitate appropriate follow-up and punishment. The call was made by Rose Rwabuhihi, Chief Gender Monitor, at the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO). Transparency International Rwanda (TIR) released a report on Gender-Based Corruption (GBC), on September 28, with an aim to provide evidence-based findings on the magnitude of GBC in Rwanda to inform policymakers on how to curb this malpractice at the workplace. The survey was conducted in different workplaces in public and private institutions as well as civil society organisations. TIR notes Gender Based Corruption is considered when someone is demanding favours, such as of sexual nature, in exchange for a service. It indicates that sexual harassment in workplaces –which is still prevalent in Rwanda –includes sexually suggestive language, sexual extortion by superiors, and pressure to perform sexual favours in return for promotions and opportunities. The report says that 75 percent of victims of GBC in workplaces are women while 25 percent are men. “We already knew about this, there is nothing new. The question should be about efficient measures that need to be taken to eradicate this. Corruption, in general, is a whole issue but this specific one (GBC) is not often reported about,” said Rwabuhihi. She added that victims shouldn’t wait for many years after they have been fired from their job to report the incident which makes it even harder to address. Marie Immaculee Ingabire, Chairperson of TIR, cited lack of evidence as a big challenge they face in the fight against this vice, which gets more complicated after a long period of time. “People who take too long to report such cases need to know, within that time, the perpetrator is taking advantage of other victims. They need to have the courage to stop the cycle.” The study pointed out that GBC is prevalent in the private sector and in varsities. It also indicates that those responsible for this form of corruption at workplaces are largely same level staff, followed by those in positions of power –at 40 percent and 30 percent respectively. This is as an average of 33.7 percent of victims fear reporting cases of GBC at the workplace because of the fear of reprisal and other consequences while 27.4 percent is due to lack of sufficient evidence to back the complaint. TIR recommends concerned institutions to strengthen existing corruption reporting tools and increase citizens' trust in them, as well as ensure the safety of informants through confidentiality and, if necessary, physical protection.

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Sexual corruption victims urged on timely case reporting