Monday, February 8, 2016

Giving or Receiving Something for Sex: A Cross-Sectional Study of Transactional Sex among Ugandan University Students

OBJECTIVE:
This study sought to determine the prevalence of transactional sex among university students in Uganda and to assess the possible relationship between transactional sex and sexual coercion, physical violence, mental health, and alcohol use.

METHODS:
In 2010, 1954 undergraduate students at a Ugandan university responded to a self-administered questionnaire that assessed mental health, substance use, physical violence and sexual behaviors including sexual coercion and transactional sex. The prevalence of transactional sex was assessed and logistic regression analysis was performed to measure the associations between various risk factors and reporting transactional sex.

RESULTS:
Approximately 25% of the study sample reported having taken part in transactional sex, with more women reporting having accepted money, gifts or some compensation for sex, while more men reporting having paid, given a gift or otherwise compensated for sex. Sexual coercion in men and women was significantly associated with having accepted money, gifts or some compensation for sex. Men who were victims of physical violence in the last 12 months had higher probability of having accepted money, gifts or some compensation for sex than other men. Women who were victims of sexual coercion reported greater likelihood of having paid, given a gift or otherwise compensated for sex. Respondents who had been victims of physical violence in last 12 months, engaged in heavy episodic drinking and had poor mental health status were more likely to have paid, given a gift or otherwise compensated for sex.

CONCLUSIONS:
University students in Uganda are at high risk of transactional sex. Young men and women may be equally vulnerable to the risks and consequences of transactional sex and should be included in program initiatives to prevent transactional sex. The role of sexual coercion, physical violence, mental health, and alcohol use should be considered when designing interventions for countering transactional sex.

Prevalence of transactional sex among sample of Ugandan university students, with chi square differences by gender.
Sexual BehaviorvariableCategoriesAll (N = 1954)n (%)Men (n = 1087)n (%)Women (n = 867)n (%)chi-squarep-value
Exchanging sex byproviding or receiving gifts,money or compensationNo897 (74.6)443 (70.0)454 (79.8)<0.001
Yes305 (25.4)190 (30.0)115 (20.2)
Missing(752)(454)(298)
Exchanging sex byproviding gifts, moneyor compensationNo1115 (85.1)534 (77.3)581 (93.9)<0.001
Yes195 (14.9)157 (22.7)38.1 (6.1)
Missing(644)(396)(248)
Exchanging sex byreceiving gifts, moneyor compensationNo1123 (87.5)597 (89.9)526 (84.8)<0.001
Yes161 (12.5)67 (10.1)94 (15.2)
Missing(670)(423)(247)
Exchanging sex by bothreceiving and providing gifts,money or compensation*51 (4.2)34 (5.4)17 (3.0)<0.001

*Missing cases not included in analysis (n = 1202).

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/pG1Z02

  • 1Division of Social Medicine and Global Health, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, Malmö, Sweden.
  • 2Multidisciplinary unit for Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics, Lausanne University Hospital- CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • 3Department of Dean of Students, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda. 



No comments:

Post a Comment