Consuming Sex: The Association Between Modern Goods, Lifestyles, and Sexual Behaviour Among Youth in Madagascar

This 19-page journal article shares findings of a study to explore the degree to which transactional sex is sometimes motivated by youth’s interest in modern goods, rather than basic survival. The study examined this association in two regions and four residence zones of Madagascar: urban, peri-urban, and rural Antananarivo and urban Antsiranana. The study findings suggest that while there is an association between sexual behaviour and interest in modern goods or modern lifestyles, such processes did not single-handedly explain risky sexual behaviour among youth; these behaviours were also shaped by culture and conditions of economic uncertainty. These determinants must all be accounted for when developing interventions to reduce risky transactional sex and vulnerability to HIV.

Researchers administered a population-based survey to 2,255 youth ages 15-24 in all four residence zones. Focus group discussions guided the survey instrument, which assessed socio-demographic and economic characteristics, consumption of modern goods, preferred activities, and sexual behaviour. The outcomes measures included: multiple sexual partners in the last year (for men and women) and ever practicing transactional sex (for women).

According to the article, the more conventional understanding of transactional sex and women’s heightened vulnerability to HIV is explained through women’s disproportionate economic disadvantage arising from gender discrimination. Women are described as passive victims with little choice but to resort to "survival sex", exchanging sex for basic needs for themselves and their children. More recent work has shed light on a different set of factors leading to transactional sex - less economically poor young women seek the stuff of "modernity" through engaging in economically-motivated sexual relationships.

The findings of this study regarding multiple partnerships suggest that a certain lifestyle and ability to access it seem correlated with having multiple sexual partnerships - namely, going to nightclubs and associating with foreigners. In addition, findings indicate that modern technology was also associated with multiple partners, but not transactional sex; further supporting linkages between modern youth lifestyles and multiple partnerships for both men and women. Finally, the findings point to associations with spending power for both women and men. For men, those with the highest reported personal expenditures were more likely to have multiple partners; for women, those who came from non-economically poor households were more likely to report having had multiple partners. Taken together, this suggests a certain lifestyle, reserved perhaps for those who can afford to access it. This "modern" youth lifestyle includes, as focus group participants who defined 'lamaody' explained, going out to "party", having multiple partners, and keeping up with fashion.

Young men with spending power, able to access modern lifestyle pursuits, were better positioned to attract partners who wished to do the same; while young women from non-economically poor households were more likely to take part in such a lifestyle. These findings suggest that women who report multiple partners are perhaps not necessarily engaging in sexual activity out of need, but out of choice. The findings also lend to the debates on the gendered economic power structures around sexual activity, as these data would suggest that women involved in these relationships may not be entering them from an inferior economic position.

In Antananarivo, researchers did not find support for the assertion that large urban areas experiencing an influx of modern goods and global youth culture would most encourage risky sexual behaviour. Instead, it may be that the power of social sanctions against such practices in the urban centre are strongly influencing sexual behaviour, or at the very least, the willingness to divulge such behaviour. Among the urban elite Merina, there is a very high premium placed on women’s chastity, while no such restriction applies to men. Therefore, there is little distinction in ethnic origin and sexual behaviour for men, while there is for women. Not a single woman who indicated she originated from Imerina region reported multiple partners or transactional sex in urban Antananarivo .

Examining the peri-urban and rural zones tells a different story, however, as the peri-urban zone emerges as one of more risky sexual behaviour; where among women transactional sex is more likely for those originating from Imerina as compared to other regions. This may be in part a reflection of the current economic realities in Madagascar, as the peri-urban region of Antananarivo is where the majority of Export Processing Zone jobs are located; a sector that was collapsing through the political crisis as it unravelled during data collection. In addition, peri-urban households are on the aggregate not as wealthy as urban households. The economic conditions during data collection may also explain the results in Antsiranana to some extent as well. Antsiranana was becoming increasingly dependent on tourism for its economy. Hotels and restaurants had multiplied rapidly in the first decade of the millennium. The political crisis had reduced the tourist population, and may have contributed to reported rates of exchanging sex in order to access money or material items.

In conclusion, researchers expected that levels of risky sexual behaviour would be associated with residing in more globalised urban centres and would be associated with socio-cultural characteristics. They found that, for both men and women, having multiple partnerships seems to be associated with characteristics of a global, youth lifestyle, marked by having frequented nightclubs, consumed alcohol, and in addition for women, used technology, and having met up with foreigners. They also found evidence of positive associations between wealth or expenditures and multiple partnerships for men and women, as well as very strong associations with ethnic origin for women, but not for men.

These findings suggest that socio-cultural belief systems must be emphasised when examining sexual behaviour and when trying to intervene toward the prevention of HIV transmission. In addition, the research points to the potential importance for hybrid spaces within the context of urbanisation and globalisation - the volatility in burgeoning peri-urban spaces may be of particular concern.