Transactional sex

Transactional sexual relationships are sexual relationships where the giving of gifts or services is an important factor. Transactional sex relationships are distinct from prostitution, in that the exchange of gifts for sex includes a broader set of (usually non-marital) obligations that do not necessarily involve a predetermined payment or gift, but where there is a definite motivation to benefit materially from the sexual exchange (Hunter 2002). Often the participants frame themselves not in terms of prostitutes/clients, but rather as girlfriends/boyfriends, or sugar babies/sugar daddies (Hoefinger 2010, 2013). Those offering sex may or may not feel affection for their partners.

In the western world, transactional sex occurs ubiquitously in the form of sex in exchange for rent, phones, clothes, drinks, drugs, grades, or school tuition, to name just a few examples.

Transactional sexual relationships are particularly common in sub-Saharan Africa, where they often involve relationships between older men and younger women or girls. In many cases, the woman in a transactional sexual relationship may remain faithful to her boyfriend, while he may have multiple sexual partners. In other cases, the woman may have multiple partners. In both of these cases, transactional sex presents an increased risk of HIV infection. As a result, transactional sex is a factor involved in the spread of AIDS in Africa.

The general consensus among those studying transactional sex is that it is associated with the joint onslaught of poverty and the influence of Western consumerism, the differences in economic power between men and women, and the breakdown of traditional African marriage customs involving bridewealth.

Though these relationships are common in Sub-Sahara Africa, they are also increasingly common in other parts of the world, such as Southeast Asia.