Corruption in Health and Civil Registry Hits Women Hardest, Report Finds
Rising bribe demands and sextortion cases disproportionately affect women’s access to essential public services, EACC survey shows
By Chemtai Kirui | Nairobi
Corruption in the country is increasingly acting as a barrier to women’s access to basic services, with rising bribe demands and the spread of “sextortion” compounding gender inequality, according to the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Kenya National Gender and Corruption Survey 2025, published in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, found that the average bribe rose 38% in a year to 6,724 shillings ($52), with most payments now demanded upfront before services are delivered.
The findings point to a shift in how corruption operates in public service delivery, where payments are no longer used to speed up access but have become a prerequisite for obtaining essential services.
“Corruption is no longer just a financial drain—it is a structural barrier,” the report said, noting that women, who often have less access to disposable income, are disproportionately affected.
The survey found that 84.3% of bribes are demanded upfront, effectively turning public services into a “pay-to-access” system that blocks those unable to pay.
The report also formally identifies “sextortion” — the demand for sexual favours in exchange for services or opportunities — as a significant and underreported form of corruption.
About 3% of women reported direct requests for sexual favours, while a further 9.3% said they faced indirect pressure, particularly in employment and career advancement contexts.
Victims are four times less likely to report sextortion than financial bribery, the report said, citing stigma and a lack of confidential reporting mechanisms.
Women face the highest exposure to corruption in sectors tied to caregiving and family welfare, the survey found.
Nearly one in three women — 30.8% — reported paying bribes to obtain civil registration documents such as birth certificates, which are required for school enrolment and access to public services.
In healthcare, where women have a 69% contact rate with public facilities, bribery was found to create direct barriers to treatment, with payments averaging 5,164 shillings in some cases.
The survey found the highest average bribe — 164,367 shillings — was paid in dealings with magistrates’ courts, pointing to significant barriers in accessing justice.
For low-income households, the report said, such costs force trade-offs between essential needs, including food and medical care.
The findings also identify a perception gap between men and women in attitudes toward corruption.
While 57.2% of men described themselves as intolerant of corruption, only 42.1% of women said the same.
Researchers attribute this not to acceptance, but to what they describe as a “survival bias” — where women, often responsible for securing healthcare, documentation and education for their families, are less able to refuse bribe demands.
The findings shift the national conversation on corruption away from large-scale financial losses toward its everyday impact on access to services and social equity.
They also point to gaps in enforcement and reporting systems, particularly the need for gender-sensitive mechanisms to address sextortion and protect victims.
The data also highlights widespread underreporting, with 98.6% of bribery cases going unreported, citing inaction and lack of trust in authorities.
The report calls for reforms in public service delivery, including stronger oversight in high-contact sectors such as health and civil registration, as well as improved accountability frameworks to reduce informal payments. It further urges gender-sensitive reporting mechanisms, including confidential channels for sextortion cases, which remain significantly underreported.
As the country intensifies its anti-corruption efforts, the data suggests that tackling graft in frontline services could play a critical role in narrowing gender inequality.
