Through the creation of an interactive website for reporting bribe requests, Bribe Hackers is serving as a bridge between law enforcement and victims of Bribery in India. In addition to building a reporting database and formal reports on bribery trends, Bribe Hackers’ is also providing tools and identifying legal service providers for victims that wish to take legal action. The program also offers workshops to raise awareness about pervasive bribery and corruption in India and advocates for improved whistleblower protection.
Challenge
Corruption is widespread in India and anti-corruption laws are rarely implemented. A study conducted by Transparency International in 2010 reports that 54% of Indians have participated in bribe-related activities. According to the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index, India ranks 83rd out of 97 countries indexed on "Absence of Corruption." According to KPMG's 2011 survey on Bribery and Corruption, reasons for poor enforcement are due to: a belief that law will not change anything; a lack of understanding of the law; political interference; delayed justice that impairs the effectiveness of the verdict; involvement of multiple agencies in fact-finding; soft penalties; fear of retribution/victimization by affected parties; a sense of hopelessness rooted in the tolerance of corruption; and a power imbalance. A holistic and affordable solution is required to address each of the above challenges and tackle the bribery problem in India.
Program Summary
Bribe Hacker's primary goal is to act as a bridge between law enforcement agencies and victims of bribery. Through an interactive website, victims of bribery will share their bribery experiences, with the option of take action against the corrupt perpetrators. Key program activities include:
- Reporting bribery experiences to an online virtual forum with the option of taking action against the perpetrators. During this process, Bribe Hackers will collaborate with law enforcement agencies, including: traffic police, the vigilance department of various public utility services, ministries within the government, international organizations, and a nexus of lawyers, social activists, and volunteers.
- Anti-corruption workshops; highlighting the use of various anti-corruption tools, exposing perpetrators of corruption and reporting acts of courage by people who take action against bribe-seekers.
- Advocacy for better anti-corruption laws; demanding whistle-blower protection, accountability, and correction institutional deficiencies.
- Developing better tools, both online and offline; for people to fight corruption, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work.
- Accessibility of anti-corruption tools, such as the anti-corruption toolkit developed by the World Bank, to citizens in rural areas who have limited access to the internet.
- Networking and collaborating with other anti-corruption projects worldwide.
Impact
Bribery and corruption cannot be remedied overnight. By highlighting the stories of bribe-hackers who help book perpetrators of bribery and corruption on our website, Bribe Hackers will slowly remedy the situation of apathy and indifference. Bribe Hackers will work with the media to introduce bribe-hacking stories into the mainstream. They will reach a social impact of 1,000 success stories of bribe-hacking heroes within a span of 5 years. The biggest stakeholder in the project is the youth, and the project will create an impact on youth lives by giving them a channel to fight against a form of corruption that they have most likely already faced.
Partners
Partners Include:
- Global Youth Anti-Corruption Network;
- World Bank Institute;
- Global Changemakers;
- Police of the relevant states in India where the Project will be implemented including traffic police, vigilance department of various public utility services (such as, Passport, Visa, Driving License, Telephone, Electricity, LPG gas, Ration, Voters ID etc.);
- Ministries within the government;
- International organizations; and
- A nexus of lawyers, social activists and student volunteers.