Intergenerational and Transactional Sex in Hyper-endemic Countries
What We Know
Summaries of Select Background Research on Intergenerational and Transactional Sex
The following selected articles highlight research findings on intergenerational and transactional sex and its influence on HIV/AIDS in developing countries.
Age-disparate and intergenerational sex in southern Africa: the dynamics of hyper-vulnerability
AIDS (2008), Vol. 22 Supp. 4, pp. S17-25
Leclerc-Madlala, S.
Young women who are fifteen to twenty-four years old have much higher HIV infection rates then men their age; this is attributed to their increased vulnerability, including sexual relationships with older men. This paper reviews what is known about intergenerational (IG) sexual relationships and its effect on HIV/AIDS in southern Africa. Current research demonstrates the complexity of IG sexual relationships. These relationships are not driven solely by a lack of economic opportunities but also by the social, physical and psychological benefits of these relationships and as a means to achieve life goals. HIV risk behaviors are high among these types of relationships and there is a need for comprehensive prevention programs that address policy issues for women and girls, and also for programs that target men.
Transactional sex with casual and main partners among young South African men in the rural Eastern Cape: Prevalence, predictors, and associations with gender-based violence
Social Science & Medicine (2007), Vol. 65 No. 6, pp. 1235–1248
Dunkle, K. L., et al.
This study explored the prevalence and predictors of transactional sex (TS) with casual partners and main girlfriends. This finding suggests that TS in both main and casual relationships should be viewed within a broader continuum of men’s exercise of gendered power and control. A total of 1,288 men aged fifteen to twenty-six from 70 villages in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa were interviewed about the kinds of resources they provide to sexual partners. A total of 17.7 percent of participants reported giving material resources or money to casual sex partners and 6.6 percent received resources from a casual partner. The research showed that giving was associated with higher socio-economic status, more adverse childhood experiences, more lifetime sexual partners, and alcohol use. Men who were able to resist peer pressure were less likely to report TS with casual partners and men who reported more equitable gender attitudes were less likely to report TS with main partners. The most consistent predictors of TS were a history of intimate partner violence and rape against women other than a main partner. The authors recommend that HIV prevention interventions need to explicitly address TS in the context of ideas about masculinity which emphasizes heterosexual success with and control of women.
Skinning the goat and pulling the load: transactional sex among youth in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
AIDS Care (2007), Vol. 19 No. 8, pp. 974-981
Maganja, R. K., et al.
There is an association between risk of HIV infection and transactional sex (TS) in studies conducted in sub-Saharan Africa as well as other regions. Women are vulnerable in a number of ways, including economically, which can put them at an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV. In this study, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions about sexual relationships, especially TS, were held with young men and women aged sixteen to twenty-four years old in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The results of the study were utilized to develop programming targeted towards men to reduce violence and HIV. It was found that TS was common in all types of sexual relationships, both casual and more serious relationships, though reasons differed based on gender. Young women had expectations of material and monetary exchange in both committed and causal partnerships. The transactional expectations of women were one of the reasons for them having more than one partner. Young men were aware of the material/monetary expectations of women and reported that this exchange affected the length and exclusiveness of the relationship and that they sought multiple partners for sexual reasons. The authors recommend that programs designed to reduce the sexual risk of young people need to account for the transactional nature of their relationships and the differences between young men and women’s motivations for those relationships.
Sex, money, and premarital partnerships in southern Malawi
Social Science & Medicine (2007), Vol. 65 No. 11, pp. 2383–2393
Poulin, M.
In premarital, sexual partnerships in rural Malawi, understanding the context within which money or resources are exchanged between sexual partners is critical to understanding these relationships. This study demonstrates that, contrary to typical expectations, money and gift transfers in sexual partnerships are part of traditional courting practices of young Malawian men and women and are the way through which love and commitment are socially communicated. Rather than conceptualizing these exchanges as wholly ‘transactional,’ data from key informant interviews with boys and girls describe the complex meaning for them of sex-for-money in relationships.
Saying no to intergenerational sex: The experience of schoolgirls in Botswana
Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies (2007), Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 1-11
Nkosana, J. & Rosenthal, D.
This qualitative study explored the factors that help school girls in Botswana avoid intergenerational relationships. The girls who were able to resist relationships with older partners had a number of strong attributes and beliefs such as having a strong sense of self-worth, accepting their economic circumstances, and wanting to maintain some sense of power in decision-making. Themes relating to social and cultural factors also played a role. For example, the girls had respect for marriage and believed that older people should be regarded as parents. They also reported religious beliefs and school connectedness. The authors recommended adapting these practices and program approaches into their HIV and AIDS prevention programs to empower girls to resist intergenerational relationships.
Milking the Cow: A PEER Research Study on Transactional and Cross-Generational Sex in Maputo
Population Services International (2005), Hawkins, K., Mussa, F. & Abuxahama, S.
This report is based on the results of a qualitative study conducted in Maputo, Mozambique with young women engaged in cross-generational and transactional sex relationships. It was found that young women are involved in multiple sexual partnerships which they classified into four different groups: (1) the namorados (same age boyfriends with whom there is a perception of trust), (2) pitos (partners for sexual pleasure and no economic exchange), (3) sengue (older married men), and (4) amante (lovers). The latter two, sengue and amante, are both seen as transactional relationships. Young women do not view themselves as prostitutes since they are involved in longer-term relationships with the men. They also view themselves as active agents in the relationships and are able to define their social and sexual identity. The young women reported a low risk perception to HIV despite engaging in higher risk behaviors. Program designs need to address the potential loss of power and status for these young women if they forgo their involvement in intergenerational relationships. Programs to reach these girls should go beyond risk for HIV infection to include information on pregnancy, unsafe abortions and STIs. HIV prevention programs targeting men and challenging existing social gender norms should also be a priority.
Age differences in sexual partners and risk of HIV-1 infection in rural Uganda
J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr (2003), Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 446-51
Kelly, R. J., et al.
This study determined that HIV infection in young women was affected by the age differences of their sexual partners. This finding was based on a sexual behavior and socio-demographic questionnaire given to 6,177 ever sexually active women aged fifteen to twenty-nine years old. The young women also provided a blood sample to determine HIV serostatus. There were three age categories for the male sexual partner which included men ranging from zero to four years, five to nine years, and ten or more years older. The results of the study demonstrated a direct link with older age of male sexual partner with increased HIV prevalence among young females. For example, the adjusted risk of HIV infection for women who were fifteen to nineteen doubled among those reporting partners ten or more years older compared to partners who were zero to four years older. There was some evidence of a similar effect among women who were twenty to twenty-four years old, although the effect was not statistically significant. The authors’ concluded that the large age differences in sexual partnerships between young female and males is one significant contributing factor to higher HIV/AIDS prevalence levels in this group.
Age and Economic Asymmetries in the Sexual Relationships of Adolescent Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa
Studies in Family Planning (2003), Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 67-86
Luke, N.
This literature review summarizes findings from 45 quantitative and qualitative studies on intergenerational and transactional sexual relationships between adolescent girls and older men in sub-Saharan Africa. The literature showed that relationships with older partners and those that involve economic transactions are common in sub-Saharan Africa. Several studies surveying men aged fifteen to fifty years of age showed that a large proportion of their sexual partners were younger than twenty years of age. However, when only men older than 25 years of age were considered, far fewer of the partners were adolescent girls. Evidence suggests that the larger the age difference between partners the less likely it is that condoms are used or that HIV risk reduction is discussed. The literature suggests that for some young women securing basic needs due to poverty is less often the motivator for intergenerational sex than is fulfilling desires for status and gifts. Qualitative studies in this review showed that as men become more aware of the risk of HIV infection they are seeking out younger partners in the belief that they are less likely to be infected, though in some African contexts, HIV infection may actually be higher in younger women. The literature presents evidence that girls can exert control over certain aspects of sexual relationships with older men, including partnership formation and continuation, but rarely over condom use or gender-based violence.
Negotiating Safer Sexual Practices. Cross-generational and Transactional Sexual Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa Prevalence of Behavior and Implications for Negotiating Safer Sexual Practices.
International Center for Research on Women in collaboration with Population Services International (2002),
Kurz, K. & Luke, N.
This literature review assesses the extent of intergenerational and transactional sex between adolescent girls and older male partners in sub-Saharan Africa; the extent of transactional sex; and the behavioral dynamics of girls and men involved in these sexual relations. The report outlines a conceptual framework and recognizes that sexual activity is a behavior negotiated between partners within a wider socio-cultural and economic context. Risk behaviors depend on the power asymmetries between sexual partners, as well as their individual characteristics and the cultural and economic determinants of behavior. This conceptual framework suggests that African adolescent girls are highly vulnerable to engaging in risky sexual behavior because: (1) sexual activity can be exchanged for cash or material things, (2) older men have a preference for adolescent sexual partners, who are perceived to be free from infection with HIV, and (3) with the decline in traditional societal structures, familial control over the behavior of young people has decreased, leaving a gap in young women’s knowledge of sexual and reproductive matters. These factors limit the negotiating power girls have with male partners around sex and unsafe practices.
Early age of coital debut and intergenerational sex are risk factors for HIV among Zimbabwean women
International Conference on AIDS (2002), Abstract no. ThOrC1489
Van Der Straten, A., et al.
HIV prevalence among young women in Sub-Saharan Africa increases with an early age of sexual debut and when there is sex with an older partner. Additionally, age-disparate sex has implications for condom use. This study explored the relationships between early age of sexual debut and HIV prevalence and the effect of condom use with older male partners. It was found that young women whose age of sexual debut was fifteen years or below were at an increased odds of HIV infection compared to young women whose age of sexual debut was eighteen years or more. The study also found that young women with a sexual partner more than ten years older were twice as likely to never use a condom, compared to a partner who was less than five years older.
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