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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

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  • Dunkle, Kristin L.
  • Jewkes, Rachel
  • Nduna, Mzikazi
  • Jama, Nwabisa
  • Levin, Jonathan
  • Sikweyiya, Yandisa
  • Koss, Mary P.

Abstract

We explored the prevalence and predictors of transactional sex with casual partners and main girlfriends among 1288 men aged 15-26 from 70 villages in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with young men enroling in the Stepping Stones HIV prevention trial. A total of 17.7% of participants reported giving material resources or money to casual sex partners and 6.6% received resources from a casual partner. Transactionally motivated relationships with main girlfriends were more balanced between giving (14.9%) and getting (14.3%). We constructed multivariable models to identify the predictors for giving and for getting material resources in casual and in main relationships. Each model resulted in remarkably similar predictors. All four types of exchange were associated with higher socio-economic status, more adverse childhood experiences, more lifetime sexual partners, and alcohol use. Men who were more resistant to peer pressure to have sex were less likely to report transactional sex with casual partners, and men who reported more equitable gender attitudes were less likely to report main partnerships underpinned by exchange. The most consistent predictors of all four types of transaction were perpetration of intimate partner violence and rape against women other than a main partner. The strong and consistent association between perpetration of gender-based violence and both giving and getting material goods from female partners suggests that transactional sex in both main and casual relationships should be viewed within a broader continuum of men's exercise of gendered power and control. HIV prevention interventions need to explicitly address transactional sex in the context of ideas about masculinity, which place a high emphasis on heterosexual success with, and control of, women.

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  • Dunkle, Kristin L. & Jewkes, Rachel & Nduna, Mzikazi & Jama, Nwabisa & Levin, Jonathan & Sikweyiya, Yandisa & Koss, Mary P., 2007. "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, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1235-1248, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:65:y:2007:i:6:p:1235-1248
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    2. Gibbs, Andrew & Mkhwanazi, Smanga & Ramsoomar, Leane & Willan, Samantha & Jewkes, Rachel, 2024. "Couples, alcohol use and experience of intimate partner violence among young women in urban informal settlements in Durban, South Africa: A mixed methods study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    3. Luetke, Maya & Judge, Ashley & Kianersi, Sina & Jules, Reginal & Rosenberg, Molly, 2020. "Hurricane impact associated with transactional sex and moderated, but not mediated, by economic factors in Okay, Haiti," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    4. Fielding-Miller, Rebecca & Dunkle, Kristin L. & Cooper, Hannah L.F. & Windle, Michael & Hadley, Craig, 2016. "Cultural consensus modeling to measure transactional sex in Swaziland: Scale building and validation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 25-33.
    5. Gavin George & Leena Maqsood & Courtenay Sprague, 2024. "Balancing risk and reward: exploring women’s transactional sexual relationships with Blessers in South Africa," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-9, December.
    6. Norris, Alison H. & Kitali, Amani J. & Worby, Eric, 2009. "Alcohol and transactional sex: How risky is the mix?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 1167-1176, October.
    7. Go, Vivian F. & Srikrishnan, Aylur K. & Salter, Megan L. & Mehta, Shruti & Johnson, Sethulakshmi C. & Sivaram, Sudha & Davis, Wendy & Solomon, Suniti & Celentano, David D., 2010. "Factors associated with the perpetration of sexual violence among wine-shop patrons in Chennai, India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(7), pages 1277-1284, October.
    8. Bicker Caarten, Asleigh & Van Heugten, Loes & Merkle, Ortrun, 2022. "The reckoning of sexual violence and corruption: A gendered study of sextortion in migration to South Africa," MERIT Working Papers 2022-009, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Amanda Selin & Stephanie M. DeLong & Aimée Julien & Catherine MacPhail & Rhian Twine & James P. Hughes & Yaw Agyei & Erica L. Hamilton & Kathleen Kahn & Audrey Pettifor, 2019. "Prevalence and Associations, by Age Group, of IPV Among AGYW in Rural South Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, February.
    10. Fiorella, Kathryn J. & Camlin, Carol S. & Salmen, Charles R. & Omondi, Ruth & Hickey, Matthew D. & Omollo, Dan O. & Milner, Erin M. & Bukusi, Elizabeth A. & Fernald, Lia C.H. & Brashares, Justin S., 2015. "Transactional Fish-for-Sex Relationships Amid Declining Fish Access in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 323-332.
    11. Bhana, Deevia, 2015. "When caring is not enough: The limits of teachers’ support for South African primary school-girls in the context of sexual violence," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 262-270.
    12. Stoebenau, Kirsten & Heise, Lori & Wamoyi, Joyce & Bobrova, Natalia, 2016. "Revisiting the understanding of “transactional sex” in sub-Saharan Africa: A review and synthesis of the literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 186-197.
    13. Stoebenau, Kirsten & Nixon, Stephanie A. & Rubincam, Clara & Willan, Samantha & Zembe, Yanga Z.N. & Tsikoane, Tumelo & Tanga, Pius T. & Bello, Haruna M. & Caceres, Carlos F. & Townsend, Loraine & Rako, 2011. "More than just talk: the framing of transactional sex and its implications for vulnerability to HIV in Lesotho, Madagascar and South Africa," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 44274, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Watt, Melissa H. & Aunon, Frances M. & Skinner, Donald & Sikkema, Kathleen J. & Kalichman, Seth C. & Pieterse, Desiree, 2012. "“Because he has bought for her, he wants to sleep with her”: Alcohol as a currency for sexual exchange in South African drinking venues," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 1005-1012.
    15. Fielding-Miller, Rebecca & Dunkle, Kristin L. & Jama-Shai, Nwabisa & Windle, Michael & Hadley, Craig & Cooper, Hannah L.F., 2016. "The feminine ideal and transactional sex: Navigating respectability and risk in Swaziland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 24-33.
    16. Hadley, Craig & Maxfield, Amanda & Hruschka, Daniel, 2019. "Different forms of household wealth are associated with opposing risks for HIV infection in East Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 344-351.

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