Transactional Sexual Relationships Research Articles

‘I just need to be flashy on campus’: female students and transactional sex at a university in Zimbabwe

This paper challenges two common perceptions regarding transactional sex relationships particularly in Africa: that they are primarily resorted to as survival strategies by economically disadvantaged young women and that sex and money are always exchanged within these relationships. Instead, I show how, in reality, young women and the men they date may use these relationships primarily to compete for social status in their peer groups as well as to fashion themselves as high-status, successful modern subjects. Often, for these particular female students, and indeed the men they date, transactional sex often involves more than a straightforward exchange of sex and money. Ethnographic data was collected at the University of Zimbabwe between August 2006 and December 2007 using participant observation and in-depth interviews. This paper focuses on the experiences of ten female students who were, or had been, involved in transactional sex as well as on interviews conducted with four male students who were ‘mediating’ transactional sex relationships on campus. Findings suggest the importance of taking into account the contexts in which transactional sex occurs. Transactional sex takes different shapes and holds different meanings depending on where it manifests itself.

Preventing HIV infection: turning the tide for young women

In sub-Saharan Africa the burden of HIV infection falls largely on women who represent about 60% of all people living with the infection in the region. Young women are at particular risk; in some areas the prevalence of infection in women aged 15-24 years is nearly three times that of young men. This heightened vulnerability is driven by social economic and cultural factors that include transactional partnerships with older men who are more likely to be infected. In gender-inequitable and transactional sexual relationships decisions about behavioral change and condom use are mainly controlled by men and thus prevention approaches have not greatly reduced the risk of HIV infection for young women in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Taking Care of Business”: Alcohol as Currency in Transactional Sexual Relationships Among Players in Cape Town, South Africa

In this article we examine the dynamics of social relationships in which alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors cooccur. As part of a larger biological and behavioral HIV surveillance survey, 20 men who lived in an urban, informal settlement on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa participated in in-depth interviews. Interview transcripts were analyzed according to a latent content analysis. Findings highlight the latent association between alcohol and transactional sex, and enable an in-depth examination of the normative role that alcohol plays in the formation of casual sexual partnerships characterized by exchange. We build on an existing conceptual model that traces the potential pathways by which alcohol use and transactional sex are linked to sexual risk behaviors. The study findings point to the need for multilevel HIV risk-reduction interventions among men to reduce excessive alcohol use, risky sexual behaviors, and underlying perceptions of ideal masculinity.

Milking the cow: Young women's construction of identity and risk in age-disparate transactional sexual relationships in Maputo, Mozambique

Sexual relationships between young women and older men involving economic transactions have been offered as a likely explanation for gender differences in HIV prevalence in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This study employed peer ethnography to explore young women's construction of social identity and risk within age-disparate transactional sexual relationships in Maputo, Mozambique. Peer ethnography, a rapid approach derived from the anthropological method and based upon training members of the target group to carry out in-depth qualitative interviews with their peers, was adopted in order to gather ethnographic data within a short timeframe to produce actionable results for the design of a communications intervention. The study highlights young women's perception of agency and power in these relationships. Through a strategy of extracting financial and material resources from men based on the power of their sexuality, young women construct a positive identity and esteem linked to perceptions of modernity and consumption and their ability to access consumer goods. Current behaviour change HIV prevention messages have little meaning in relation to young women's perceived goals, in a context in which structural conditions offer few opportunities and limited hope for a secure economic future.

The factors influencing transactional sex among young men and women in 12 sub‐Saharan African countries

Transactional sex may put young women and young men in sub-Saharan Africa at increased risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. This behavior may also put young women at higher risk of pregnancy and childbearing. Policymakers and program managers need to know what factors put youth at increased risk. We investigated this issue using logistic regression analyses of data from male and female modules of Demographic and Health Surveys from 12 sub-Saharan African countries. We found that young men and young women are at greater risk of engaging in transactional sex than are older people. Unmarried young women and young men were significantly more likely to engage in transactional sex than married youth. Based on these results, our conclusions were that programs geared toward reducing the incidence of transactional sex or protecting men and women already in transactional sexual relationships should be aimed at both young women and young men. Due to our finding that unmarried young women and young men are more vulnerable to experiencing transactional sex, programs to prevent transactional sex should be specifically directed to this subgroup of young people.