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The HERStory Series: Understanding why South African Adolescent Girls and Young Women engage in Transactional Sex and Relationships

HERStory Series

The HERStory Series: Understanding why South African Adolescent Girls and Young Women engage in Transactional Sex and Relationships

The Context

  • Motivations for engaging in transactional sex and transactional relationships (TSR) are complex and diverse, ranging from economic deprivation, hunger and poverty, to desires for social approval, prestige, glamour, and luxury.
  • Socio-cultural norms normalise transactional sex and transactional relationships amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Africa, and practices of using sex as a currency for exchange.
  • Our study included data from a range of urban, semi–urban, and rural communities across six provinces of South Africa, all characterised by high rates of HIV and teenage pregnancy. Combining quantitative survey data with qualitive narratives from AGYW and their male peers, we sought to deepen understanding of these complex risk behaviours, and the factors that influence AGYW decision making around TSR, helping to inform interventions that seek to address sexual and reproductive health challenges among AGYW in South Africa.
  • Considering the range of motivations for AGYW to engage in transactional sex and relationships in these communities in South Africa, and the associated HIV risks, addressing these behaviours is critical as part of South Africa’s HIV response.

View the complete Research Brief: Understanding why South African Adolescent Girls and Young Women engage in Transactional Sex and Relationships

The South African Medical Research Council’s strategic plan includes the generation of new knowledge and its translation into policy and practice. In the Health Systems Research Unit, our research aims to inform and support decision-making in health and social policy to strengthen health systems, and therefore improve the health of South Africans. We evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of care delivery models in communities, schools, and health facilities. To ensure relevance of our research, we apply implementation science principles and approaches, and engage and partner with Departments of Health at all levels of government, as well as with communities and other stakeholders. 

As a unit, we are developing research briefs based on manuscripts that have been published. Our intention is to disseminate key research findings to a broad audience, sharing the research briefs on multiple platforms to ensure wide reach, and work towards bridging the divide between academic research and the development of policy and practice. We aim to use these research briefs as a tool to summarise the key findings of recent studies, outline the implications for policy and practice in the South African context, and provide empirically based, practical, actionable information for policy makers, programme designers and implementers, practitioners, citizens and communities.