Giving Up Your Body to Enter Fortress Europe: Understanding the gendered experiences of sextortion of Nigerians migrating to the Netherlands

Loes Van Heugten (), Ashleigh Bicker Caarten () and Ortrun Merkle ()
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Loes Van Heugten: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University
Ashleigh Bicker Caarten: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University
Ortrun Merkle: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University

No 2021-050, MERIT Working Papers from United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT)

Abstract: Corruption is a frequent companion of irregular migrants along their journey, however, as they often have little financial resources available or deplete them quickly along the difficult route, paying for monetary bribes can be difficult. Therefore, this paper analyses the occurrence of a non‐financial form of corruption, i.e. sextortion. Sextortion is a largely unexplored form of corruption in which sexual favours function as means of payment. To establish a better understanding of the occurrence of sextortion, this paper explores the gendered experiences of this form of corruption for Nigerians migrating to the Netherlands. The paper is based on interviews with experts on migration, gender and corruption in the Nigerian and Dutch context. The results show that Nigerian migrants are most vulnerable to encounter sextortion in Nigeria, Libya, Niger, and Italy. The extortion of sexual favours often occurs in addition to financial bribes, making it not the primary purpose of the exchange, but not underplaying its importance. While women are most often seen as the survivors of sextortion, also men and nonbinary individuals are at risk to encounter sextortion. Besides gender, the results indicate that age, economic situation, and the availability of a social network influence a migrant’s vulnerability. Furthermore, Nigerian migrants often experience different sources of pressure to succeed their journeys which take away the element of choice when encountering sextortion.

Keywords: Sextortion; Migration; Corruption; Gender-based violence; Sexual violence; Nigeria; South-North Migration; Migration Policy; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D73 F22 F59 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-12-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mig
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