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Women have been long portrayed as less corrupt, more nurturing and more honest, while men are perceived as power hungry.

World Bank research has even found that having more women in political and public offices would lead to less corruption and better governance.

Backed by numerous studies, women feel empowered to demand broader opportunities, and now many hold key roles in politics and business.

But there is a more sinister side to the rising trend, with more and more women being implicated in graft cases. Corruption is a major problem bedeviling Indonesia, with some people saying it has deterred foreign investment in the country.

Transparency International Indonesia recently criticized the slowness of the fight against corruption. Indonesia crawled up 0.2 points to 3.0 on the latest Corruption Perception Index, on which 10 represents the least corrupt nation.

With corruption so rampant, it is not surprising that Indonesian women have started to become involved, in some cases with amounts of money that would put any men to shame.

In 2011, there were at least 10 women in the public spotlight for their alleged roles in corruption, bribery or money laundering.

The notion that women are less corrupt now looks shaky.

Portraits of modern women?

These women are attractive, alluring and ultimately know how to use their charm to their advantage. But it doesn’t stop there: they also know how to bribe and take a bribe.

They attract the media, who suspect their audiences will be riveted by the details of their cases.

The public was mesmerized when graft suspect Nunun Nurbaetie returned home for the first time since fleeing the country nearly two years ago, sporting a Louis Vuitton scarf to cover her face.

Nunun is said to be the intermediary in a Rp 24 billion ($2.6 million) bribery case linked to the appointment of Miranda Goeltom as Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2004.

Nunun went from being a high-profile socialite and Hermes handbag collector to a detainee, sharing a room and toilet with 30 other inmates in Pondok Bambu prison.

Miranda herself used to be part of Nunun’s circle of friends, with the two often meeting at fashion shows and other events. Following the uproar surrounding the case, however, Miranda denied having a close relationship with Nunun.

Then there’s Angelina Sondakh, a former Miss Indonesia turned politician whose own wealth has increased 10-fold since becoming a member of the House of Representatives.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is now questioning her role in a bid-rigging scandal in the construction of an athletes’ village in Palembang after several witnesses said she accepted Rp 9 billion in bribes.

Angelina again shocked the nation when KPK commissioner Busyro Muqoddas said that she was romantically involved with a KPK investigator, who had since been removed from his post.

The same case also brought down businesswoman Mindo Rosalina Manulang.

The Anti-Corruption Court, which sentenced her to two and half years behind bars, revealed that she had rigged the tender process by bribing Sports Ministry secretary Wafid Muharram and lawmakers. Some money was also channeled to her boss, former Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin.

Nazaruddin’s wife, Neneng Sri Wahyuni, was also named a suspect by the KPK for brokering a contract to provide solar power equipment to the Manpower Ministry.

There’s also former Citibank Indonesia manager Inong Malinda Dee.

Malinda is accused of stealing $5 million from the bank’s customers, money she used to finance an indulgent lifestyle that included the purchase of two Ferraris, a Hummer SUV and a Mercedes-Benz.

Her time in police custody was briefly interrupted as she underwent surgery to remove her breast implants, which were leaking and putting her health at risk.

Another woman making headlines for all the wrong reasons is a young lawmaker Wa Ode Nurhayati.

She went from a hero — by revealing systematic corruption inside the House of Representatives Budget Committee — to a villain after the KPK named her a graft suspect.

Wa Ode reportedly asked for a Rp 6 billion payoff from businessman Haris Surrahman in exchange for securing legislative approval of infrastructure projects in Aceh Besar, Pidie Jaya and Bener Meriah districts in Aceh.

Wa Ode also allegedly asked for Rp 900 million in kickbacks for a similar project in Minahasa district, North Sulawesi.

This year, the KPK arrested Imas Dianasari, an ad hoc judge at the Bandung Municipal Court’s industrial relations tribunal.

She was arrested in a restaurant after allegedly receiving Rp 200 million in bribes from a private company in exchange for a favorable ruling in a labor dispute.

Then there’s businesswoman Dharnawati, who since her arrest has become more religious, wearing long black veils and covering her mouth.

Dharnawati was arrested in August after providing Rp 1.5 billion in cash to two officials at the Ministry of Manpower after her company, Alam Jaya Papua, had secured a contract in one of the ministry’s projects.

Another women implicated in a corruption scandal is former General Elections Commission (KPU) member Andi Nurpati.

The Constitutional Court accused Andi of forging a letter to grant a seat at the House of Representatives to Dewie Yasin Limpo even though the court had ruled in favor of her rival.

Women less corrupt than men?

The amount of corruption in the country has reached alarming proportions.

Considering the small number of women in positions of power in the past, voices encouraging women to replace men are growing louder, based on the premise that male leadership has failed in leading the country.

For years, women activists and feminists have been trying to explain why a high proportion of women in parliaments correlates with low national levels of corruption. A series of premises, explanations and arguments have been proposed and debated.

The World Bank report “Engendering Development through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voices” in 2001 suggested that societies where women enjoyed greater participation in public life had “cleaner” businesses and governments. International comparisons revealed that the higher the number of women in parliament or the private sectors, the lower the level of corruption.

Henny Warsilah, a sociologist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said corruption did not discriminate on the basis of gender. “Whoever they are, women or men, the needs remain the same when it comes to money and power,” she said.

The more involved in politics a woman becomes, Henny said, the more of a need they have to repay their political backers. The high cost of succeeding in politics tempts women to take a shortcut.

Many corruption cases involving women reflect the fact that many women are well-suited to lobbying and being a “middleman.”

Compared to men, many women are adept at achieving power through their appearance and style, as well as the way they communicate.

“The problem is when women abuse their strength and exploit it for a wrong purpose,” Henny said.

She also said women who lacked solid values would compromise their integrity in pursuit of short-term benefits.

In corruption cases, women can play both roles: actor and victim.

Hairiah, a member of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD), said several graft cases were hurting the budget for the welfare sector. The budget allotted for people’s welfare could fall because of corruption, she said.

When the budget for sectors such as education and health are reduced, Hairiah said, vulnerable groups, particularly women and children, tend to suffer.

A hope for 2012

The battle of the sexes is less relevant now because power tends to corrupt, and as women reach higher positions, they will succumb to a corrupt system just like their male counterparts.

Henny said that the most important course of action to combat corruption was to focus on the system itself.

Bureaucracy reform, a stricter system for budgetary allocations and a good recruitment process in political parties will ultimately lead to improvements in the system.

She said that if the system let the House of Representatives decide the budget on its own, it would lead it to become a nest for corruption. “And women will get trapped,” Henny said.

In short, it is clear that more women in politics does not itself lead to a lower level of corruption, but rather, democratic and transparent politics will lead to more success in the battle against graft.

Those same two forces, fortuitously enough, create a better environment for more women to participate in politics.

This year has fueled the notion that women are of no greater integrity than men when it comes to corruption. Whether that is part of a trend or merely an aberration remains to be seen.