Journal of Health Population and Nutrition, Vol. The findings of the study indicate that the transactional nature of sexual encounters and the commoditization of female adolescent sexuality should be considered when developing HIV-prevention interventions. While transactional sex occurred among adolescents of similar age, emphasis was placed on sexual encounters with older, more financially-secure males to obtain cash, food, clothing, and school-fees.
The age and economic asymmetries 42 , material goods provided 13,19 , and the contradictory expectations and pressures from parents 12 are consistent with findings of other studies of transactional sex in sub-Saharan Africa. The promise of Western commodities and associated higher social status has been discussed in other studies of transactional sex 11,13,43 and were found to be strong motivators to engage in transactional sex in our study. Refusing sex or insisting on condom-use was reported to lead to possible sexual violence, consistent with findings of many studies in sub-Saharan Africa Our findings suggest that female adolescents in Liberia should not be viewed as simply victims of transactional sex.
Similar to the findings of study by Wamoyi and colleagues in Tanzania, young girls are making choices, from the limited options they have, to engage in transactional sex to address a continuum of needs They are described as choosing between age-concordant or discordant partners based on who can provide greater access to resources.
Adolescent males are also willing participants in the transactional sex economy. They attested to male dominance over sexual encounters and felt in competition with older, more affluent males because they lacked access to the cash economy. The risks communicated by the adolescent females included early pregnancy, lack of the opportunity to attend school if pregnant, sexual violence, and reduced prospects for marriage but these did not seem to outweigh the material benefits from transactional sex.
Males did not perceive any risk for themselves when engaging in transactional sex. In our focus groups, condom-use was viewed as a way to prevent early pregnancy. Condom-use was not motivated by a fear of HIV transmission. Adolescent females described discomfort with using condoms. They expressed fear that condoms would reduce fertility and, if insisted upon, could result in physical violence.
