Sexual corruption, also known as sextortion or sexual exploitation, is not a new phenomenon in Madagascar. Indeed, this concept uses sex as a bargaining chip in the practice of corruption. In 2018, the Independent Anti-Corruption Office in Madagascar (BIANCO) produced an initial diagnostic study on the issue, along with the production of awareness-raising tools. Transparency International-Initiative Madagascar (TI-MG), continued on this momentum with its project to fight against sexual corruption (CORSEX) phase 1 in 2021 and phase 2 (CORSEX-EDU) during 2022. 8,501 people were interviewed during the surveys conducted by TI-MG in 2021 and 2022, including 2,098 in Analamanga, 1,805 in Atsinanana, 1,550 in Diana, 1,174 in Boeny and 1,424 Atsimo Andrefana. The project mainly targeted women whom represent 67% of the sample of people surveyed. We found that 4,936 of the 8,501 respondents recognize the existence of sexual corruption in educational or university environments, i.e. 62% of the respondents. Women seem to perceive sexual corruption slightly less than men with respective percentages of 61% and 64%. Victims of sexual corruption are more numerous in the Diana region compared to the other regions (9%, or 146 people). In absolute value, students are the most likely to report a case. On the other hand, teachers are the most affected in terms of proportions: 6% of them were victims against 4% of students. Regarding underage students, they apparently begin to suffer from this scourge starting often around the sixth grade. Good grades are the first area of extortion offered by the instigators with more than one in three cases of sexual corruption involving grades (36%). Money in the form of financial aid is the second most often implicated (26%). Admission to an exam or competition comes at 20%. At university, sexual extortion remains the currency of exchange in return for better exam grades. The investigations carried out by the MALINA network revealed harrowing testimonies to Atsimo Andrefana: teenage girls forced to leave college to flee pressure for sexual extortion from their teachers, students forced to offer sexual favors in return for better exam marks or access to exam subjects, etc. A code of silence (the omerta) constitutes the common point of these cases: the fear of reprisals, the shame, and the social pressures dissuade the victims from filing a complaint. To fight against sexual extortion, TI-MG and the NGO Tolotsoa continue to advocate for the adoption, by interministerial decree, of the Pact for Bodily Integrity in Education and Higher Education (PICEES) in order to make it compulsory in all Malagasy schools and universities.
Centro de Recursos de Saúde e Educação