Impact of corruption on the health sector
3. Increases Inequity
3.2. Gender perspective: women are disproportionally affected
There are several reasons why women are disproportionally affected by corruption:
- Women constitute a majority of the poor. And as corruption affects poorer sections of a population, women are more likely to be affected.
- Gender bias in the judicial system hurts women.
- Trafficking is more likely in a corrupt environment.
- Sexual extortion of women can go unpunished.
- Corruption reinforces women’s social and economic marginalization.
- Corruption leads to poor protection of women’s rights.
- Corruption affects access to leadership and decision making opportunities.
In the health system, women generally access more services and have more specialized needs (UNDP 2011a: 10). These are, in part, family related needs, like pregnancy, childbirth and visits to medical facilities with children.
