The Gendered Dimensions Of Illicit Financial Flows
U4 Helpdesk Answer 2019:5The gendered dimensions of illicitfinancial flowsAuthor(s): Ortrun Merkle, Transparency InternationalReviewer(s): Monica Kirya, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource CentreDate: 3 June 2019Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are increasingly understood as one of the greatest challenges to globaldevelopment. Interestingly, while much attention is paid to gendered aspects of developmentoverall, there are very few studies exploring the extent to which women are affected by andinvolved in IFFs. The links between gender and IFFs can be investigated from three mainperspectives: i) how IFFs specifically affect women; ii) the roles women play in IFFs; and iii) howwomen can help curb IFFs.U4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskA free service for staff from U4 partner agencies
QueryWhat are the linkages between gender and illicit financial flows?Contents1.Background2.How do IFFs affect women and genderequality?3.How might women participate in IFF?4.The role of women in countering IFFsIntroductionIllicit financial flows are increasingly understood asone of the greatest challenges to globaldevelopment Conservative measures estimate thatillicit financial flows (IFFs) between 2006 and 2015on average equalled roughly 20% of trade indeveloping countries with advanced economies(GFI 2019). The High Level Panel on IllicitFinancial Flows from Africa estimates that Africaalone is losing more than US 50billion a year toIFFs.IFFs weaken the financial system and economicpotential of countries and divert resources that areneeded to finance public services such as health,education, justice and security (OECD 2014). Theyare especially detrimental to developing, fragile andinstitutionally weak countries as they emboldenthose who operate outside the law, underminegovernance and intensify weaknesses in thecountry’s institutions (OECD 2018, p. 18).Therefore, countering IFFs has become an integralconcern reflected in the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development Goals (Goal 16, Target16.4).Interestingly, while much attention is paid togendered aspects of development overall, there areU4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)Main points— IFFs reduce public resources availablefor service provision and programmesfocused on gender equality. Thisdisproportionally affects women.— To make up for money lost to IFFs,states frequently levy consumptiontaxes which also put adisproportionate burden on women.— Women and men are also differentlyaffected by the sources of IFF,particularly corruption and humantrafficking.— The question of how womenparticipate in IFFs needs furtherresearch. While studies show thatwomen are less likely to condonecorruption, tax evasion and crime,examples show that there are womenwho play prominent roles in all theseillicit acts.— Women’s role in countering IFFs hasnot been explored in much detail. Yet,it is well known that women can playan important role to countercorruption, which is an importantelement of reducing IFFs.2
very few studies exploring the extent to whichwomen are affected by and involved in IFFs. Thescarce literature that does exist on the genderedaspects of IFFs focus on the impact of IFFs onwomen but do not cover the question of howwomen are involved in illicit financial flows.The links between gender and IFFs can beinvestigated from three perspectives: i) how IFFsspecifically affect women; ii) how women can helpcurb IFFs; and iii) the role women can play in IFFs.Backgroundof corruption (OECD 2014), even thoughthese are estimated to account for only 3%to 5% of IFFs (Economic Commission forAfrica 2014; Schneider 2010; Baker & Joly2008).In general, IFFs can also be used for further illegalactivities (e.g. terrorist financing or bribery) andfor legal consumption of goods (OECD 2014, p.16).These streams are linked. Not only do they allinhibit overall political and socio-economicdevelopment they also all have gender specificoutcomes, which will be discussed in the followingsections (FEMNET 2017, p.9).In recent years, the international developmentcommunity has become increasingly interested inWhile there is an ongoing debate about thethe concept of IFFs. When the term was firstdefinition of IFFs, the definition by GIF is the oneintroduced in the 1990s, it only covered the conceptmost frequently used and will be the one used forof capital flight. However, it has since been used tothis query. For an overview of definitions seedescribe a broader set of cross-border movementsForstater (2016) and Erskine & Eriksson (2018).of capital connected to illegal activities(Kukutschka 2018). Global Financial Integrity(GFI) defines IFFs as “funds [that] are illegallyearned, transferred, and/or utilised” (GFI n.d.).The transfer of capital internationally can beconsidered illicit for three different reasons:(World Bank 2017): the transfers themselves are illegalthe funds are the results of illegal actsthe funds are used for illegal purposesAs the following sections will show, all these alsohave different consequences for women.Existing research generally agrees on threepotential origins of the IFFs (FEMNET 2017) proceeds of commercial activities(aggressive tax planning and trademispricing)revenues from criminal activities(smuggling and trafficking of drugs, people,weapons, etc.)public corruption: most attention in theliterature is given to the outflow of profitsU4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)How do IFFs affect women andgender equality?Many organisations focus on the role of illicitfinancial flows as an impediment to development.As IFFs are hidden and potentially come fromillegal activities, the government cannot tax them,resulting in a loss in government savings,investment and consumption. Additionally, as theIFFs are typically sent abroad, they cannot be usedto benefit the society where they originated(Eriksson 2017).The loss of resources for development caused byIFFs has been linked to high levels ofunemployment, poverty and inequality. IFFs leadto a lack of resources for domestic investments thatspur economic growth and limit funds forinvestment in infrastructure and social policy. Thishampers human development and the guarantee ofbasic human rights (Herkenrath 2014), which, as3
will be discussed in the following sections, has adependent on these services for their survival, asdisproportionate impact on women.the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on US 1or less a day are women. The feminisation ofIn addition, IFFs result in a lack of availablepoverty, i.e. the widening of the gap between menresources that could be invested in fulfillingand women in the cycle of poverty in the lastcommitments to gender equality more generallydecade (UN Women 2000), has further increased(FEMNET 2017, p.9). Taxation is considered as onethe dependency of women on public serviceof the key tools to address economic inequality andprovision.gender inequality. The inability of the state toprovide high quality public services perpetuatesIn many societies, cultural gender stereotypes andand exacerbates gender inequalities.unequal power relations force women’s societalroles on unpaid care work. This perpetuates theThere are two main areas of tax evasion andpoverty cycle, prevents women from participatingavoidance that affect women and gender equality:in the formal labour market and political life.i) they undermine the possibility to close thefinancing gap for gender equality and women’sThe effect of cuts in government spending on therights; ii) they have negative effects on verticalprotection and promotion of women’s rights couldequity (those who have the ability to pay morealso be observed in wake of the 2008 financialtaxes should pay more) and the progressiveness ofcrisis (Alliance Sud et al. 2016). In Spain, fortax systems (the tax rate increases as the incomeexample, the UN Committee on the Elimination ofincreases) that disproportionately affect women.Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) found in(Grondona et al. 2016, p.2).2015 that the financial and economic crisis as wellas austerity measures by the state negativelyThe following sections will discuss two elements toaffected all spheres of life for women. They foundunderstand how IFFs affect women and genderthat women faced reductions in social security andequality: i) how are the effects of IFFs gendered;dependent care payments, unemployment, wageand ii) how are men and women differently affectedfreezes and other negative labour market outcomesby the origins of IFFs.(CEDAW Comm. 2015).Gendered effects of IFFsAnother example was the Ebola crisis in 2014/15 ,where up to 75% of Ebola victims in West AfricaLack of funding for public goods and servicesTax evasion and corruption lead to insufficientgovernment funds, especially for public servicessuch as education, sexual and reproductive health,maternal care and social protection, (FEMNET2017). When allocating scarce resources,were women. The crisis was intensified by budgetshortfalls in the health services, which wereexacerbated by tax abuse and illicit financialoutflows (Alliance Sud et al. 2016, p.5).Lack of funding for promoting gender equalitygovernments often choose to prioritise certainInstitutions and programmes intended to promoteareas, like security over social services, creating agender equality and women’s empowermentfurther gap in services offered (Waris 2017). Thisreceive inadequate funding when there are limitslack of government spending for public services hason government budgets. While an increase inhighly gendered effects. Women are especiallybudget does not always mean that theseU4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)4
programmes get funding, they are usually the firstadministered but regressive tax reforms, focusingto be cut in times of economic downturn andon increased consumption taxes to make up fordecreasing budgets (Alliance Sud et al. 2016).money lost to IFFs (FEMNET 2017). These taxesare usually levied on basic goods and services,Additionally, when the government reduceswhich disproportionally affect women for severalinvestments in public services, women are usuallyreasons. (Waris 2017). First, consumption taxesrequired to fill those gaps in caregiving, educationusually put an extra burden on poorer householdsand family support with unpaid labour (Warisas they spend a larger portion of their earnings on2017; Alliance Sud et al. 2016).consumption (Capraro 2014). As discussed above,in the context of the feminisation of poverty, theseIFF and women’s employmenthouseholds are often headed by women. InIFFs can also lead to higher rates ofaddition, as women are often in charge of theunemployment. As public resources leave thehousehold, they tend to spend a larger portion ofcountry, economic development is hampered, andtheir income on goods that are affected by thejob creation slows. Once again, in such contexts,higher taxes (Alliance Sud et al. 2016; Grondona etwomen are more at risk of unemployment, haveal. 2016).fewer chances to participate in the labour force andoften have to accept worse working conditions,shorter working hours and lower quality jobs(Waris 2017).Women might not only be affected by this asconsumers but also as small-business owners andproducers. As states need to make up for the loss ofrevenue, they will often increase taxes on smalland medium-sized companies, where women areTaxation and fiscal policyoverrepresented (Grondona et al. 2016). A study inWomen also face an additional burden in taxation.Vietnam, for example, found that those sectorsGovernments will often react with easilywhere more women were business owners carriedEase of IFFincreases returns toillegal captial IFFIllegitimate and/orconflict-threatenedstate is unable orunwilling to actagainst IFF.giving rise topersonal,community,environmental,political insecurity.U4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)Illegal capital IFFincreases.undermining statelegitimacy and/orsupporting conflict.5
higher consumption taxes than thoselead to social unrest and increased violencepredominantly run by men (Capraro 2014).(Cobham 2016).The gendered impact of IFFs on peace andsecurityInsecurity has different effects on men and women.Illicit financial flows flourish in conflict andwomen. Women also face changes in theirinsecurity and exacerbate both (Cobham 2016).economic roles and are more likely to face genderThere are two vicious cycles showing how IFF isbased and sexual violence (Strachan and Haiderlinked to insecurity. In countries with low levels of2015). Across the African continent, IFFs have beeninstitutionalisation of authority, large amounts oflinked to resource conflicts and terrorist groupsmoney will be allocated to patronage. In such(OECD 2018). The profits of illicit trade oftencontexts, governments and their opponents arebenefit groups that are involved in conflict and actlikely to resort to violence to maintain andas a driver for conflict (OECD 2018)While men have a higher risk of death duringconflict, most refugees and displaced people arechallenge the current power structures (Cobham2016).As will be discussed later, human trafficking is alsoa major source of illicit financial flows. ArmedAlso, the illicit outflow of capital from legalconflict increases the vulnerability for humanoperations can lead to insecurity. Where revenuestrafficking as weak rule of law and a lack ofare missing for goods and services that are mostresources to react to criminal activity create aneeded, this will damage the relationship betweenfertile ground for traffickers. The lack of access tothe citizen and the state, undermine statebasic necessities, such as food, shelter and cleanlegitimacy and public trust in institutions, and canwater makes many people, including women, moreEase of IFF increasesreturns to legal captial IFFUnder resourced,unrepresentative and/orincapable state is unableor unwilling to act againstIFF.giving rise economicfood, health andenvironmentalinsecurity.U4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)Legal capital IFFincreases.undermining stateresources, politicalrepresentation(willingness) and capacityto spend well.6
vulnerable to traffickers (APA 2014; UNODCcorrupt act by, for example, paying a bribe.2018a).Indirect, on the other hand, refer to the effects of acorrupt exchange on a third, non-participatingHow men and women are affected by theorigins of IFFsTo get a complete picture of the gendered effects ofillicit financial flows, one also must take a look atthe origins of the illegal capital and how thesemight have different effects for men and women.This section will discuss the effects of corruptionparty (Boehm & Sierra 2015). Direct effects ofcorruption are different for men and women. Inabsolute terms men will encounter more corruptionin areas where they are more active, e.g. thebusiness sector. However, as research has shown,women are still proportionally more vulnerable tocorruption in these sectors (Boehm & Sierra 2015).and human trafficking as these sources of IFFSOne of the main reasons that leads to men andhave clear gender dimensions.women being differently affected by corruption areCorruptionthe gender roles that result from unequal powerrelationships within society. The roles typicallyCorruption only accounts for a small part of IFFsassociated with men or women lead to different(about 3% to 5%). Yet, corruption plays anexposures to corruption. The sectors where womenimportant role in understanding IFFs. For one, IFFsare disproportionally affected by corruption, such asare used to get the proceeds of corruption out of thepublic services (Nyami Musembi 2007), health carecountry, often for money laundering purposes.(Chêne et al. 2010), and education, however areOther mechanisms through which corruption andlikely not the sectors where IFF originate.IFFs are connected include: i) corruption as a meansof facilitating the generation of illicit funds, e.g.when corrupt authorities do not punish tax evasionor trafficking of women; ii) corruption can be ameans to enable illicit flows, e.g. when bank officialsare bribed to ignore suspicious transactions (Reed &Fontana 2011, p.19f)Political corruption, however, which is a frequentsource of IFF, can also perpetuate genderinequalities and prevent women from getting intohigh level positions in politics and business(Rheinbay & Chêne 2016).Human trafficking and migrant smugglingIt is well-established that men and women areTrafficking in persons and migrant smuggling is andifferently affected by corruption (e.g. Boehm &important source of IFFs. Most smuggled migrantsSierra 2015; Chêne, Clench & Fagan 2010; Ellis,are young men (however, this depends on theManuel & Blackden 2006; Hossain, Nyamicircumstances driving the mobility), yet someMusembi & Hughes 2010; Leach, Dunne & Salviroutes have large shares of female smuggled2014). Corruption can lead to increased inequality,migrants, e.g. in South-East Asia (UNODC 2018c).lack of infrastructure and lack of service provision,Migrant smuggling has created an estimatedwhich, as discussed, above affect womeneconomic return of US 5.5-7 billion in 2016disproportionally.(UNODC 2018c).These differences exist both in the direct and theOn the other hand, worldwide, about 49% ofindirect effects of corruption. A direct effect istrafficking victims are women and 23% girls (27%when the individual is directly participating in theU4 Anti-Corruption HelpdeskThe gendered dimensions of illicit financial flows (IFFs)7
men and boys) (UNODC 2018a), therefore, humantrafficking has a clear gendered dimension.About 60% of trafficking in persons detectedworldwide w ere foreigners, hence the UN Office ofDrugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates thattrafficking in persons is one of the most lucrativeillicit businesses worldwide (UNODC 2018b). TheILO estimates that human trafficking proceedsamount to US 150.2. billion per year (this includestrafficking for sexual and labour exploitation)(FATF-APG 2018, p.13). Terrorist organisationshave also been shown to use human trafficking tofund their activities and organisations (FATF-APG2018).Multiple factors have been determined to underlyhuman trafficking. Many of those who aretrafficked are victims of economic policies in theircountries that make maintaining a livelihoodimpossible. Here IFFs can be seen not only as aresult of human trafficking but also as anunderlying cause of human trafficking, when, asdiscussed above, women are disproportionallyaffected by a lack of government resources and seekalternative opportunities which make themvulnerable to human trafficking. Hence, poverty isone of the major underlying factors for women tofall into the hands of traffickers. At the same timetrafficking traps the women into poverty (FEMNET2017).Other underlying reasons for women to end up asvictims of human trafficking are discrimination ineducation and economic opportunities, conflict anddisplacement, unemployment and restrictivemigration laws as well as cultural and religiouspractices, and the corruption of authorities.(Grondona et al. 2016). As previously discussed,many of these factors can be caused or exacerbatedby illicit financial flows, creating a vicious cycle.How might women participate inIFFThere is currently no research on how and ifwomen participate in generating and facilitatingIFFs to the same extent or differently than men.However, inferences can be made from what isknown about differences in behaviour of womenregarding corruption, tax evasion and crime. Animportant finding is that, while women tend to beless involved in such illicit activities, the underlyingreasons are not yet known and there is littleevidence that women would behave in less corruptways when they access economic and politicalspheres of power. There are also prominent casesof women engaging in all these activi
financial flows Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are increasingly understood as one of the greatest challenges to global development. Interestingly, while much attention is paid to gendered aspects of development overall, there are very few studies exploring th
May 02, 2018 · D. Program Evaluation ͟The organization has provided a description of the framework for how each program will be evaluated. The framework should include all the elements below: ͟The evaluation methods are cost-effective for the organization ͟Quantitative and qualitative data is being collected (at Basics tier, data collection must have begun)
Silat is a combative art of self-defense and survival rooted from Matay archipelago. It was traced at thé early of Langkasuka Kingdom (2nd century CE) till thé reign of Melaka (Malaysia) Sultanate era (13th century). Silat has now evolved to become part of social culture and tradition with thé appearance of a fine physical and spiritual .
Dr. Sunita Bharatwal** Dr. Pawan Garga*** Abstract Customer satisfaction is derived from thè functionalities and values, a product or Service can provide. The current study aims to segregate thè dimensions of ordine Service quality and gather insights on its impact on web shopping. The trends of purchases have
On an exceptional basis, Member States may request UNESCO to provide thé candidates with access to thé platform so they can complète thé form by themselves. Thèse requests must be addressed to esd rize unesco. or by 15 A ril 2021 UNESCO will provide thé nomineewith accessto thé platform via their émail address.
̶The leading indicator of employee engagement is based on the quality of the relationship between employee and supervisor Empower your managers! ̶Help them understand the impact on the organization ̶Share important changes, plan options, tasks, and deadlines ̶Provide key messages and talking points ̶Prepare them to answer employee questions
Chính Văn.- Còn đức Thế tôn thì tuệ giác cực kỳ trong sạch 8: hiện hành bất nhị 9, đạt đến vô tướng 10, đứng vào chỗ đứng của các đức Thế tôn 11, thể hiện tính bình đẳng của các Ngài, đến chỗ không còn chướng ngại 12, giáo pháp không thể khuynh đảo, tâm thức không bị cản trở, cái được
Le genou de Lucy. Odile Jacob. 1999. Coppens Y. Pré-textes. L’homme préhistorique en morceaux. Eds Odile Jacob. 2011. Costentin J., Delaveau P. Café, thé, chocolat, les bons effets sur le cerveau et pour le corps. Editions Odile Jacob. 2010. Crawford M., Marsh D. The driving force : food in human evolution and the future.
Grade 2 ELA Standards, Clarifications and Glossary 2 GRADE 2 READING STRAND: K-12 Standards for Reading define what students should understand and be able to do by the end of each grade. Students should demonstrate their proficiency of these standards both orally and through writing. For students to be college and
