Global Judicial Integrity Network Updates Special Edition 'Views' Review | Page 14

VIEWS
Exposing and Preventing Sextortion in the Judiciary
Chief Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro served as the first female Chief Justice for the Supreme Court of the Philippines
and is the former President of the International Association of Women Judges. Before serving on the Supreme Court, she
had previously served as a Justice of the Sandiganbayan (specialized anti-corruption court) in the Philippines.
Sextortion, as defined by the
International Association
of Women Judges (IAWJ),
is the abuse of power to
obtain a sexual benefit or
advantage. As such, it is a
form of corruption in which
sex, rather than money, is
the currency of the bribe.
It is not limited to certain countries or sectors,
and can be found wherever those entrusted
with power lack integrity and try to sexually
exploit those who are vulnerable and dependent
on their power. whom they exercise authority, or by enticing
them to grant them sexual favours.
The IAWJ has succinctly explained the
principle underlying sextortion as follows:
what distinguishes sextortion from other types
of sexually abusive conduct is that it has both a
sexual component and a corruption component.
The sexual component of sextortion arises from
a request — whether implicit or explicit — to
engage in any kind of unwanted sexual activity,
ranging from sexual intercourse to exposing
private body parts. The corruption component
stems from the person demanding the sexual
favour occupying a position of authority, which
they abuse by seeking to exact, or by accepting,
a sexual favour in exchange for exercising the
power entrusted to them. In other words, the
perpetrator exercises their authority for their
own gain. Recently, through my decision
in a case filed against a lawyer,
sextortion has found its way
into Philippine jurisprudence as
well; the lawyer was disbarred,
after having been found guilty of
sextortion.
It is important to recognize that sextortion
violates fundamental ethical standards,
because even if an act may not technically
constitute a violation of a penal law, people in
authority should still not misuse their power
by seducing subordinates and individuals over
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The main barrier to the effective fight against
sextortion is the victims’ fear of exposing
perpetrators, fearing possible reprisals, which
could include a demotion, the withholding of
benefits or even the loss of their job. Moreover,
lawyers may refuse to represent the victims
of judges for similar reasons, fearing it may
adversely affect their practice of law before the
courts.
One method of combatting sextortion is
incorporating this matter (and other gender-
related issues) into judicial training. For
instance, our gender sensitivity trainings,
conducted by the Committee on Gender
Responsiveness in the Judiciary, include
lectures and workshops on sextortion. The law
in the Philippines mandates all governmental
institutions to devote 5% of their budget to
the mainstreaming of gender issues in their
programmes and projects. Therefore, there
is legal basis to use gender funds for training