According to Wikipedia, transactional sex is a super set of sex-work, in that the exchange of monetary reward 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.
Transactional sex is when money or gifts are given with a motive in an actual relationship.
One of the common perception many have about transactional sex centers on prostitution and sugar daddy versus runs girls’ relationships. This is a relationship between rich older married men in their 40s, 50s, 60s and younger girls in their late teens, early and mid-twenties.
While this perception is true, transactional sex is broader than that because it happens between people of all ages and social status in this clime.
Economic circumstances play a key role in people’s sexual behavior and it is the major reason transactional sex is prevalent here. Inadequate or outright lack of socioeconomic resources makes sex the only currency of exchange for most women. It’s a situation of restricted choice and limited employment opportunities.
While there are many in relationships just to improve their current lifestyles and subsistence needs which includes having extra cash gifts, designer clothes, perfumes, shoes and bags, contracts, promotion, rents, cars, cell phones, jobs, exotic gifts, vacations etc as incentives.
Many are also in relationships for basic survival. They offer sex to men who insist on it as the only reason to support them and their families. These women would readily give sex in return for security, material and financial support to keep their heads above water.
In the western world, most people genuinely date and have sex motivated by purely recreational needs without any form of financial responsibilities tied to it.
Although a few still engage in the ‘sugar daddy and cougar’ type of transactional sex but in this part of the world, most single ladies and even married women go into relationships with the mindset they have become men’s responsibilities.
These men take care of their upkeep, from hair needs to body cream and other expenses. Some of these men also take care of the families of their sex interest as part of the deals they have with these ladies.
Giving gifts and financial support from men to women in relationships is the best expression of love and commitment. It is the dating standard in this part of the world.
So, most women make financial requests because they are having sex with their boyfriends or because they know he intends to. They have a mentality that having sex comes with taking care of them and in the absence of such financial provisions, they feels used and undervalued.
Even some wives are trading sex with their husbands. They make financial demands whenever their husbands wants sex because that’s the only time they can get their financial needs met.
The fact that men are providing for material and financial needs of women and expecting sex in return does not make most of these women helpless victims.
A lot of women have become very active manipulators, some even openly berate men who assist them without asking for sex in return, calling them ‘mugu or maga’. They brag about how they squandered a man’s money and he didn’t even get to see the colour of their underwear. They even call out men to forget about falling in love and go make money first. They claim you are not man enough if you cannot provide for your girlfriend’s needs.
The reason a lot of girls are in secret multiple stable relationships with different men is for financial gains. They will always be there to satisfy each of these guys sexually while they in turn provide for their financial needs whenever they make requests or whenever they feel like it.
Today, most young men render material or financial assistance to women expecting sex in return. Some even insist on taking it by force because they expect to be rewarded for the time or money spent on these ladies. It doesn’t matter that she’s not their spec, once they assisted or spent money on her; then they must be rewarded in kind.
The truth is that we have a problem that needs to be fixed and fast too. When women have their own source of income and access to reliable social safety nets, they would most likely not indulge in transactional sex but more of recreational sex which is mutual.
They will appreciate and feel loved when a man ask them out on dates bearing roses, a bottle of wine or even a teddy bear, rather than heaping all their financial burden on men and expecting these men to become their cash cows.
Transactional sex and prostitution may be different concepts to you because prostitution has price tags even before the act and 99% a one-night-stand relationship.
It doesn’t matter if transactional sex which could for survival because it is poverty driven are accepted, since material, financial provisions or demands are made while the relationship lasts. One is giving something in return for something.
While prostitution will always be considered illegal and immoral, transactional sex will be considered appropriate by the same people who condemn prostitutes and prostitution.