Balancing risk and reward: exploring women’s transactional sexual relationships with Blessers in South Africa

Abstract

Transactional sexual relationships (TSRs) take varied forms, with research emphasizing TSRs’ inherent risks, primarily to women. In South Africa, Blessed relationships have emerged as a prominent type of TSR. Blessers have become coveted male partners due to their relative wealth and willingness to ‘bless’ female partners with financial and material gifts, as well as the improved social status that accompanies such partnerships. Given the limited literature on Blesser partnerships, we investigated women’s implicit and explicit negotiated rewards and their perceived risk and ability to employ risk mitigation strategies, utilizing risk as a sociological concept to enhance understanding of risks women assume, and subsequent gendered implications. This qualitative study was conducted in 2017-2018 in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province, South Africa, a high HIV prevalence setting, with 22 women, using purposive and snowball sampling methods. We found that women in relationships with a Blesser recognize and navigate a number of risks, including: the threat of HIV acquisition, falling pregnant, experiencing an emotional void following a TSR, and expressed feelings of guilt and shame, as segments of South African society remain judgmental of TSRs. These risks are then weighed against the pursuit of sustained financial and social rewards achieved through such relationships.