Introducing the third edition MACRA Tool - incorporating gender

What’s new in the 3rd edition of the MACRA Tool?

• How to identify the barriers to women’s participation
• How to analyse the gendered impacts of corruption
• How to include women’s perspectives in your research
• How to include the strengths of the awards process in your assessment
• How to conceptualise the links between the vulnerabilities, corruption risks and impacts in your assessment.'

Sextortion (sexual extortion)

Sextortion is a form of corruption primarily affecting women seeking access to government services. It involves an implicit or explicit demand from a person in a position of authority for any kind of sexual favour in exchange for performance of their formal duties. Women dependent on artisanal and small-scale mining for their livelihood may be vulnerable to sexual extortion by government officials in exchange for processing or approving their licence application.

Gendered vulnerabilities

The tool provides guidance on identifying the weaknesses in the awards process, practice and context that expose women to corruption or corruption impacts:

• Face-to-face contact. Points where the applicant has direct contact with a government official create opportunities for corruption and expose female applicants to sexual extortion, particularly when they are interacting with officials in an isolated setting.
• Overly technical information makes it hard for women and men in affected communities to understand the proposed project and participate in consultation and decision-making.
• Lack of clear consultation requirements can enable companies to selectively engage only with those in the community who are likely to be in favour of the project.
• Women’s ownership of land is not formally documented. Without legally recognised rights or title to land, women will be less able to protect their interests and negotiate access deals with mining companies whose licence will cover that land
• The absence of gender-responsive whistleblowing protection policies can deter female staff in mining companies and government agencies from raising concerns about corruption for fear of gendered retaliation, such as sexual harassment and discrimination, allowing corruption to remain undetected.

Participation of women in preventing and mitigating corruption in the award process

Women and women’s groups are key agents of change in anti-corruption efforts. Women in civil society organisations and at the community level – when given the space to express their voice and agency – play an important role in demanding greater transparency and accountability and in advocating for women’s rights, interests and concerns to be included in decision-making about mining projects.

Strategies to tackle corruption will only be truly effective if they address the barriers created by gender inequality that hinder women’s participation in decision-making and accountability efforts.

Barriers that need to be addressed to enable women’s participation in decisions related to mining projects include:

• Low levels of literacy among women in mining-affected communities limits their ability to participate in community consultations, defend their land rights, and ensure their interests are accounted for in agreements with companies and environmental and social management plans.
• Gender norms that deter women from participating can undermine women’s ability to hold community leaders, government and companies accountable for self-serving conduct, making it easier for those actors to commit corrupt acts and get away with it.
• Lack of formal title to land maymean that women’s ownership of land is not legally recognised or documented. Without legally recognised rights or title to land, women will be unable to protect their interests and negotiate with mining companies whose licence will cover that land.
• Whistleblower protections that do not specifically address gender-based retaliation concerns may result in fewer women in companies or government raising concerns or making reports about corruption in the awards process.

Tips on including women’s perspectives in the corruption risk assessment

Women may experience licensing and contracting processes, including community consultation and engagement, differently to men. Collecting women’s views and perspectives is critical to ensuring the assessment is gender sensitive and adequately captures their insights. To effectively involve women from mining-affected communities:

• Follow ‘do no harm’ principles: Conduct your interviews and discussions in a safe space. If you decide to hold a separate women-only meeting, ensure community leaders understand and support the rationale for having women-only focus group discussions.
• Adhere to community protocols: Traditional leaders may need to be notified of your intention to speak with members of the community.
• Accommodate women’s schedules: Conduct your interviews and discussions in places that women feel comfortable, at suitable times and enough prior notice for participants.
• Involve influential people or women’s groups to help you organise your interviews and invite women:Female leaders and women’s groups can also give you information on how to best contact and engage with women in the community.
• Be sensitive to power dynamics between women and men: If possible, it is better to speak to different groups separately and involve leaders in interviews rather than focus group discussions.