192 : CRITERIOS PARA LA CONSTRUCCION DE EDIFICACIONES DESTINADAS A ACTIVIDADES DE SERVICIOS Son actividades que por las características de

Transactional sex is defined as a relationship that involves the exchange of money or material goods for sex (Silberschmidt and Rasch 2001, Leclerc-Madlala 2003, Côté, Sobela et al. 2004, Moore, Biddlecom et al. 2007, Norris, Kitali et al. 2009). While this transaction has both an economic and sexual component, it has often been differentiated from western conceptions of sex work (Hunter 2002). This is because the women engaging in sex and the men paying for the sex do not view themselves as engaging in sex work. The participants engaging in these exchanges instead construct themselves as “girlfriends” and “boyfriends” and the exchange of gifts for sex is “part of a broader set of obligations that might not involve predetermined payment” (Hunter 2002: 101).

Transactional sex has been documented in a wide range of countries in sub- Saharan Africa. These have included Ghana (Côté, Sobela et al. 2004), Malawi (Swidler and Watkins 2007), Mozambique (Hawkins, Price et al. 2009), Nigeria (Cornwall 2002), South Africa (Hunter 2002, Kaufman and Stavrou 2002, Wojcicki 2002, Leclerc-Madlala 2003, Dunkle, Jewkes et al. 2004), Tanzania (Silberschmidt and Rasch 2001, Maganja, Maman et al. 2007, Wamoyi, Wight et al. 2010, Wamoyi, Fenwick et al. 2011), Uganda (Nyanzi, Pool et al. 2001) and

Zimbabwe (Masvawure 2010). In a review of published studies from Africa, Luke and Kurtz (2002) found that there was a “widespread transactional component to sexual relations for adolescent girls, and in some contexts, large proportions of girls have engaged in this type of relationship” (Luke and Kurz 2002: 3).

Generally, it is predominately men who provide the material benefits and women who receive these material benefits in transactional sexual encounters, reflecting economic and social roles within many high HIV prevalence countries, (Moore, Biddlecom et al. 2007). Although, there has also been documentation of older women paying younger men for sex – often referred to as sugar mummies

(Morojele, Kachieng'a et al. 2006), this practice seems to be much less prevalent. Within the literature relating to transactional sex there have been dichotomous representations of women, particularly young women, who engage in transactional sex and their motivations for engagement. One representation sees women who engage in transactional sex as victims who are forced by economic circumstance to have sex to meet their own basic needs as well as their families (Epstein 2002, Hallman 2004, Kaute-Defo 2004, Epstein and Kim 2007). The other portrayal within the literature is of young women behaving as active social agents who rationally choice their behaviours and negotiate their sexual relationships to gain small ‘luxuries’ rather than for their economic survival (Silberschmidt and Rasch 2001).

Within the literature most studies have reported that women have agency to decide to enter sexual relationships for material gain. They are also seen as

having the power to decide the length of these relationships and using their agency to maximise the benefits of these exchanges. However, most of the literature acknowledges that these relationships take place within a social, economic and cultural context that disadvantages women, particularly young women. Also women have little power once they are in these relationships to negotiate the terms of sexual encounters, in particular condom use (Luke and Kurz 2002, Maganja, Maman et al. 2007, Wamoyi, Wight et al. 2010).

There has also been discussion in the literature of how transactional sex is viewed by those engaging in the practice. Poulin (2007) argues that transactional sex is not viewed as something that is unusual or degrading, but rather as integral to a wide range of relationships from marriages to long term relationships to extra- martial affairs (Poulin 2007). In Southern Uganda, secondary school girls reported that whatever their economic position having sex for free would be humiliating because receiving gifts “rubs off the cheapness of being used” (Nyanzi, Pool et al. 2001: 88).

Leclerc-Madlala (2003) reports that in Durban, women see transactional sex as a normal part of sexual relationships and they are motivated to acquire the

commodities of modernity. In Malawi, in contrast to policy makers’ perceptions that survival is the motivations for involvement in transactional sex, rural women said that they were also motivated by attractive consumer goods, passion and

revenge (Tawfik and Watkins 2007). In rural Tanzania, Wamoyi and colleagues (2010) found that transactional sex underlay most non-marital relationships of young women. However, they found women’s motivations varied from escaping intense poverty, to seeking beauty products or accumulating business products. Young women in this context actively used their sexuality as an economic resource often entering relationships primarily for economic gain (Wamoyi, Wight et al. 2010).

In a second study with young women and their parents in rural Tanzania Wamoyi and colleagues (2011), found that women viewed sex without exchange as

“demeaning to women and held that women who agreed to this did not value their self-worth: they were seen as stupid, easily cheated, and lacking attractive power” (Wamoyi, Fenwick et al. 2011: 9). If women did not ask for something in

exchange of sex then they were seen as easy and could be equated to prostitutes. The study findings run contrary to the definition of prostitution as gaining money in exchange for sex. The women in this study felt their sexuality was worth something and by not receiving something for it meant they had no worth (Wamoyi, Fenwick et al. 2011).

These findings were also reflected in the study undertaken by Hawkins and colleagues (2009) based in Maputo, Mozambique. They found through a strategy of extracting financial and material resources from men based on the power of their sexuality, young women constructed a positive identity and esteem linked to

perceptions of modernity and consumption and their ability to access consumer goods (Hawkins, Price et al. 2009).

As both Poulin (2007) and Wamoyi, Wight et al. (2010) note that the majority of the literature on transactional sex in sub-Saharan Africa have been conducted in urban and peri-urban areas as well as with girls attending secondary school. In reality the majority of girls living in Southern and Eastern Africa neither live in urban areas nor attended secondary school. These factors are likely to shape how transactional sex has been reported in the academic literature.

In the literature drivers for engagement in transactional sex can be viewed broadly in two ways; for financial interest and to build social and emotional ties (Chatterji, Murray et al. 2005). The financial drivers for women to engage in transactional sex can be divided into three categories: economic survival, to increase her longer-term life chances, and to increase her status among peers (Luke and Kurz 2002).

Swidler and Watkins (2007) study undertaken in rural Malawi highlights the role of social and emotional ties in the conceptualising of transactional sex. They analysed the meaning of gifts and money for sex in rural Malawi and argue that in this context transactional sex is not solely about sex or money but rather about establishing, maintaining and sustaining ties that bind men and women in a social relationship. These social relationships also need to be placed within the broader

context of sub-Saharan Africa where patron-client relationships are pervasive. They argue that transactional sex can be seen as a form of patron-client relationships. These relationships both mitigate the insecurity of poverty (in a subsistence economy where food shortages are present) as well as the insecurity of wealth (in a poor and donor dependent country).

In the past decade there has been increased focus on transactional sex in the academic literature because of the link to unintended pregnancy, abortion, gender based violence and HIV/AIDS (Silberschmidt and Rasch 2001, Hunter 2002, Luke and Kurz 2002, Dunkle, Jewkes et al. 2004, Swidler and Watkins 2007, Norris, Kitali et al. 2009, Masvawure 2010).

Where women are motivated by economic vulnerability they are more likely to have more sexual partners or concurrent sexual partnerships – which place women and men at an increased risk of HIV (Epstein 2008). Although recent research has contested whether having multiple concurrent partnerships increases risk of HIV infection, it is still clear that having more sexual partners, (often linked to

economic vulnerability) can place women and men at an increased risk of HIV (Tanser, Bärnighausen et al. 2011).

The context and motivation of engagement in transactional sex is important in understanding HIV risk and HIV risk perception. Transactional sex can occur between couples who belong to groups that are not traditionally defined as high-

risk for HIV infection, but are in longer-term, more trusting relationships. This level of trust in longer-term relationships can mean that condom use is not insisted upon and therefore can increase the risk of HIV transmission (Campbell and Currey 2003).

Economic dependency can also mean that power imbalances within sexual relationships prevent women from negotiating the terms of sexual relationships including condom use (Maganja, Maman et al. 2007). Maganja and colleagues (2007) argue that within communities that have highly stratified gender

expectations and opportunities, women can be placed at an economic and social disadvantage and women are motivated to participate in transactional sex because of the few alternative pathways for economic survival (Stephenson, Winter et al. 2012).