June 16 2012.
SINGAPORE: One former financial broker
knows at least two financial instrument brokers who play the "sex
for contracts" game: They get into the sack with corporate clients
even though they have more-than-generous expense accounts with
which to woo these clients.
With each swap going for an average of tens of millions of dollars,
the payouts are temptingly high for those who manage to clinch the
trade, the 35-year-old told MediaCorp.
But with very little to differentiate the services of one brokerage
from another, some women brokers resort to sleeping with traders
who may then pay them bigger commissions if they are happy with the
"service", he said, describing the practice as "rife" within the
profession.
A professional in the IT industry, which also sees stiff
competition for multi-million-dollar contracts, knows of at least
one peer in her circle who has gone to such lengths - usually as
part of her after-dinner entertainment for the client.
According to the 38-year-old, who has been in the IT line for about
15 years, a mix of lucrative incentives and the pressure to deliver
makes for powerful motivation.
DISEMPOWERING
Another IT industry veteran, Mr H Lim, who has worked for the likes
of Oracle and IBM, said the sales quotas at such multinationals are
very aggressive.
"(Employees) need to meet the numbers and most IT procurers are
male.
"Pressure is extremely high and you may get the boot if you don't
meet your numbers for two to three quarters.
"This drives some women to desperation," he said, adding that
targets are usually in the double-digit millions of dollars per
annum.
"It would be naive to think it is only the high-profile cases. It
is happening daily - in the pharmaceutical industry, banking as
well as IT ... it's just a matter of not getting caught," he
noted.
In this era of equal opportunity, and with ever more women working
their way to success through knowledge, talent and hard work,
instances of women sales professionals offering sex in exchange for
a quick, sure-fire way of clinching deals have been thrust into the
limelight.
Last week, former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter
Lim was charged with 10 counts of corruption for allegedly
obtaining sexual favours from three women - two vendors and one
potential vendor.
In return, he would allegedly show favour to their companies in
IT-related tenders called by the SCDF.
There is a certain irony to all this.
Executive Director of the Association of Women for Action and
Research (AWARE) Corinna Lim points out that more such incidences
may be occurring these days because modern women are getting into
career roles that draw the big bucks.
Yet, this is ultimately "disempowering" for women.
"Ideologically, the using of sex to get ahead reinforces the idea
that their greatest asset lies in the fact that they are desired by
men.
"This perpetuates patriarchy as it makes women's value dependent on
how much men desire them... they do not have value in their own
right," said Ms Lim.
PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR
Academics and women's rights organisations that TODAY spoke to
suggest various factors may be at play in determining the way some
women in business behave.
Ms Lim, as well as sociology professor Teo You Yenn of the Nanyang
Technological University, suggest taking a closer look at
organisational cultures that influence how employees act.
In those with "masculine leadership cultures" and very few women at
the top, "sexual predatory behaviour may be implicitly encouraged",
Ms Lim added.
"Although the customer may not outright ask for sex in exchange for
sealing the contract, there is still some element of sexual
harassment, through implicit, subtle suggestions or hints from the
customer that the sales representative may not get the deal if they
do not offer sex.
"There is an imbalance of power between the two parties."
This is happening in industries where clients are mostly
male.
A pharmaceuticals sales representative with 12 years' experience
said that in the cases she has heard of, doctors are bold in asking
for sexual favours due to the strong competition that sales
representatives face.
Ms Lim called for stronger sexual harassment laws, arguing that
where it is the norm for transactions to be conducted in such a
manner, the professional may find it difficult to lodge
complaints.
IT'S COMPLICATED
But is it too simplistic to cast women in such transactions as
naive or manipulated victims?
There is, after all, the fact that there are women in the same
lines who choose not to exchange sexual favours for a contract. Or
who decide to leave the industry altogether. Personal greed, and
perhaps also the extent of one's ambition, factor into a woman's
choice, some point out.
Their actions earn some detractors' scorn. In a day and age when
women advocates and business leaders are calling for more female
participation on corporate boards and in top management positions,
on the basis of their competence and talent, it surely does no good
when a female company director or manager or chief executive makes
the news for allegedly sleeping with a client to further the
company's business.
Prof Teo, who is also an AWARE board member, said: "From a
sociological viewpoint, all individual actions have to be
understood in a broader social context. We should ask why the
system is such that sex is rewarded but capabilities directly
related to the job alone are not.
"Men continue to dominate higher positions across almost all
organisations and we know with certainty that they are almost never
asked for sexual favours in order to get there - why is it that
comparably capable women are put in such positions wherein this
so-called choice is even a possibility?"
