The spread of information and communication technologies (ICT) in SubSharan Africa has provided a new arena for gender-based violence (GBV). Unfortunately, the growth of ICT has out-paced legal developments to regulate it. In this article we explore the legal responses to the phenomenon of nonconsenusal pornography-more commonly known as revenge porn-in the global south. We use case studies from Malawi and Uganda to illustrate the incidence of revenge pornography in a non-western context and to discuss the (in)adequacy of the legal regimes to deal with this new form of GBV. At the time of writing neither country has laws dealing specifically with revenge pornography, although both Malawi and Uganda have anti-pornography or anti-obscenity provisions in the law. The question that arises is whether such existing laws are adequate to combat incidences of revenge porn/nonconsensual pornography. We suggest that revenge porn, and indeed other forms of "cyber violence" against women, require specific legislation or a nuanced interpretation of existing laws to curb their incidence rates and to ensure redress for victims. This is an imperative subject and requires lawmakers to grapple with emerging issues of internet freedoms and the possible role that the law can play in regulating cyberspace in a way that protects the rights of women, freedom of expression but also the privacy rights of all. This article is published as part of a collection on gender studies.
Background: Human Resources for Health are a core building block of a health system, playing a crucial role in improving health outcomes. While the existing literature has examined various forms of corruption that affect the health sector, few articles have examined the role and impact of corruption in the recruitment and promotion of health-workers.Objectives: This study reviews the role of corrupt practices such as nepotism, bribery and sextortion in health-worker recruitment and promotion and their implications for health systems.Methods: The study is based on an interdisciplinary non-systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles in the public health/medicine and political science literature, complemented with the 'grey' literature such as technical reports and working papers. Results: Political and personal ties, rather than merit are often factors in the recruitment and promotion of health-workers in many countries. This results in the employment or promotion of poorly qualified or unsuitable workers, with negative implications for health outcomes. Conclusion: Corrupt practices in health-worker recruitment and promotion 'set the tone' for other forms of corruption such as absenteeism, embezzlement, theft and bid-rigging to flourish, as those recruited corruptly can collude for nefarious purposes. On the other hand, merit-based recruitment is important for curbing corruption. Corrupt recruitment practices have deleterious effects on health-worker motivation and retention, quality and competency, citizens' trust in health services and health outcomes. Whereas international law and policy such as the United Nations Convention Against Corruption and the WHO Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluation of Human Resources for Health state that recruitment of public officers and health workers respectively should be done in a transparent and accountable manner, more research is needed to inform policies on merit-based recruitment.
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