The Gendered Perspective on Corruption: Are Women Better Gatekeepers of Integrity?

Due to corruption, India struggles to achieve just governance and sustainable development. Corruption manifests in various forms, such as bribery, and favouritism, undermines public trust and hinders productivity and progress. Consequently, a more recent perspective suggests that women are less likely to engage in corrupt tendencies and can significantly contribute to fostering honesty within governance structures.

In this article, the author examines the peculiarities of gender relations in the context of corruption, with an emphasis on the Indian administrative system. It tries to answer questions like: are female managers less inclined to corruption? Are they capable of fighting for ethical leadership?

Ethical Leadership: A Pathway to Eradicating Corruption 

Corruption has been a major problem in India, evident from its score of thirty-nine on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index issued by Transparency International. Despite legislative steps such as the enactment of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the establishment of the Lokpal, corruption persists in various fields including real estate, public procurement and social welfare.

While discouraging corruption requires punitive measures every bit as much attention should be given to enforcing accountability and ethical stewardship of organizational institutions. This is where we shall find that the idea of improving women's leadership in governance is relevant.

Why is Gender Important in Combating Corruption?

Studies carried out internationally point out a correlation between women’s ascendance to positions of authority and a decrease in corruption. Some theories that help explain this connection include:

Moral Conditioning: The socialisation process results in women being more aware of fairness and ethical duty, and therefore are less likely to get involved in corruption.

Caution with Risks: Women are generally perceived as more cautious than men, making them less inclined to engage in corrupt activities that could result in significant harm.

Heightened Scrutiny: Female managers are monitored more closely than males and this helps them to adopt high levels of accountability.

Despite all these theories mounting a strong argument, it is important that one cannot overlook some contextual factors which include cultural values, strength of institutions and resource endowment that have the potential of shifting the goals.

Women in Indian Administration: Representation and Impact

India has made considerable progress in fostering gender equality in governance, particularly at the local level:

Constitutional Provisions: The two constitutional amendments 73rd and 74th also provide for one-third representation of women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) and urban local bodies to ensure women participate in the local self-governments.

Civil Services: Women have made significant inroads into the Indian bureaucracy showcasing their competence and dedication. However, gender disparity persists, with women often being underrepresented in higher-level posts compared to their male counterparts.

These initiatives create a chance for women to prove to themselves that they are capable of being true and efficient leaders.

Role of Women Leaders, Women in Business: Ethical Leadership in India

1. Kiran Bedi’s Reforms: Through her tenure in power, Kiran Bedi, the first-ever female member of the Indian Police Service (IPS), put into practice a number of strategies of change that were designed to address corruption in India and introduced advanced solutions for traffic systems, /as well as the transparency of Indian prisons. The professional career of the woman provides proof of the ability of women in the leadership of ethical reforms.
2. Women Sarpancha: Several past researches including the one done by UNDP in 2012 revealed that the villages having women sarpancha enjoy upgraded governance, particularly in the issues of resource sharing and welfare programs.
3. Aruna Roy and the RTI Act: Aruna Roy, a former IAS officer and activist who fought for making the Right to Information Act an important part of transparency in India’s architecture.
4. Chhavi Rajawat: An MBA dropped a corporate career to become the sarpanch of Soda village in Rajasthan. During her service, she brought about a sensitive change and transformation in the village regarding sanitation, water resource management harvesting and physical development. She set high standards in ethical governance, especially at the grassroots level which has often been characterised by high levels of transparency and inclusion.
5. Sheila Dikshit: Ms Sheila Dikshit, the former Chief Minister of Delhi, served at the helm of the Delhi government for fifteen years, during which she brought about significant transformations in the city’s infrastructure, transportation, and governance systems. Though her term had been accused of corruption, her schemes for the welfare of women and girl children through “Ladli” were evidence of her leadership values and good governance.
6. Mary Kom: Not a conventional administrator, Olympic boxer Mary Kom is also an activist in northeastern India, fighting for change, clean administration, and youth’s rights.

These are a clear indicator that women leaders of different eras have always sought to uphold integrity and accountability in public leadership while breaking set norms.

Evidence Linking Gender and Reduced Corruption

Research from around the world, as well as within India, shows that the involvement of women in governance significantly reduces corruption.

• A study conducted and published by the World Bank in 2010 shows that corruption can be explained by the level of female participation in government because the nations that had more women in their government had lower levels of corruption among the 150 governments that were analysed in the study.
• Such surveys suggest that in Indian villages where women were involved in Panchayats, levels of resource misappropriation and corruption are lower than in the villages where men run the Panchayats.
• For similar reasons, other nations enjoying high gender balance in leadership, like Finland or Norway, are placed at the bottom of the corruption ratings.

Barriers to Women’s Effectiveness in Combating Corruption

Despite their capabilities, women encounter considerable obstacles in administrative positions:

1. Patriarchal Structures: Gender stereotypes in society commonly result in low representation of women in leadership positions and where they are placed, they are often undermined.
2. Tokenism: I have seen many women appointed to positions of authority, only for them to be denied influence and decision-making power.
3. Safety Concerns: Whenever women decide to stand up against corruption they are likely to be threatened, harassed or even killed, something that may prevent them from taking lasting actions.
4. Limited Institutional Support: Of these challenges, a lack of appropriate measures to protect and support women aspiring to leadership positions only exacerbates them.

Closing these gaps is critical to unlock the utilisation of women as agents in ethical governance.

Policy Suggestions

To empower women to serve as effective guardians of integrity, the following actions are necessary:

1. Enhancing Representation: Raising gender quotas to cover higher tiers of administration, ensuring that women have considerably more power in policy making.
2. Skill Development: As for specific recommendations, organisations should offer separate training to women leaders to focus strictly on corruption and complex governance challenges.
3. Institutional Protections: Establish good measures to protect women in leadership positions from harassment and safeguard them.
4. Raising Awareness: It should conduct public information campaigns that present positive accurate images of women leaders.
5. Incorporating Technology: So, if e-governance solutions are adopted and provided, possibilities of corrupting the process are reduced while the transparency of processes increases.

The Wider Implications of Gender-Inclusive Governance

Promoting the involvement of women in governance can yield extensive advantages:

• Better Service Provision: Female administrators tend to manage resources more equitably thus improving public facilities like health and schools.
• Economic Development: The reduction of corruption leads to the creation of a good investment climate and the development of the economy.
• Strengthened Democratic Principles: Increasing the presence of women empowers a society and strengthens the democratic framework in a society.

By increasing the support to women leaders and being ambitious about the goal, India can fight corruption as well as other social goals.

Conclusion

This makes it possible for social scientists to link increased women leadership with lower corruption levels in societies. However, for women to become great promoters of integrity, then there is a need to remove all forms of barriers supported by the system also to boost up the institution.

It is not just about making women minimally acceptable, but about empowering them to attempt remodelling the governance system with more sustainable, ethical and accountable standards. The underlying message of the concept presented in the article by creating an environment that nurtures principled leadership in women, India could pave its way to good governance and overall societal development.

References

[1] Corruption Index: India ranks 93 among 180 nations, Available Here

[2] Women's Political Participation, Available Here

[3] Women and Men in India 2023, Available Here

[4] Gender and Corruption, Available Here

[5] Women's Representation in India: Progress and Obstacle, Available Here