Transactional sex, consumer society, and neoliberalism in Uganda: A political economic analysis of drivers and models of response

ABSTRACT

Transactional sex is a topic within HIV research that is relatively undertheorised and lacking consensus. In this study, it is understood as the implicit, non-marital, non-commercial exchange of sex for material goods or social status, and we examine the phenomenon among youth. Within the existing literature, the paradigms of sex-for-survival and sex-for-consumption emerge, representing differing senses of agency, particularly among young women. Based on interviews with human service providers in Kampala, Uganda, we consider the latter paradigm, examining how providers frame transactional sex against the political-economic backdrop of consumer culture, including the mainstreaming of communication technology in youths’ lives. We also examine providers’ depictions of available models of response, focused mainly on HIV prevention, in the context of international and national policies and politics. This study aims to situate analyses of transactional sex within political-economic context, considering how structural shifts toward neoliberalism have shaped both this phenomenon of behavioural health, and the existing models of response.

KEYWORDS:

• Transactional sex
• HIV
• political economy
• neoliberalism
• Uganda

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Dean’s Innovation and Collaboration Fund through Simmons University’s College of Social Sciences, Policy, and Practice. We are tremendously grateful to our interviewees for the wisdom they shared and to our partner organisations that made this research possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Pseudonyms are used for all participants.

2 Recognizing that no term or acronym is fully inclusive, and that language evolves, we chose to use LGBTQ+ in this study; however, providers used a variety of alternative terms/acronyms, and we have not altered their words.

3 UNAIDS’s (2020) 90-90-90 Fast Track Targets for 2020 included that 90% of people living with HIV would know their status, 90% of those diagnosed would receive antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 90% of those on ART would achieve viral suppression.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Dean’s Innovation and Collaboration Fund through Simmons University’s College of Social Sciences, Policy, and Practice.