Gender, power, and whistleblowing: Why financial regulation must embrace intersectionality

by Professor Kate Kenny

In financial services, whistleblowing is now acknowledged as being a safeguard against corruption, a corrective for regulatory failure, and a pathway to ethical accountability. But beneath this ideal lies an uncomfortable truth: not all whistleblowers are treated equally. Gender, race, class, and other social factors influence who feels safe to speak up - and who is silenced. To future-proof whistleblowing frameworks, and protect workers, financial regulators and institutions must confront this inequity head-on by embedding gender and intersectionality into their systems.