A review of transactional sex for natural resources: Under-researched, overstated, or unique to fishing economies?

Kathryn J. Fiorella; Pooja Desai; Joshua D. Miller; Nicky O. Okeyo; Sera L. Young

doi:10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941

A review of transactional sex for natural resources: Under-researched, overstated, or unique to fishing economies?

Kathryn J. Fiorella^*, Pooja Desai, Joshua D. Miller, Nicky O. Okeyo, Sera L. Young

^*Corresponding author for this work

Anthropology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

Environmental change is projected to decrease the availability of key natural resources. Decreasing availability of resources that support food security and livelihoods for vulnerable populations is hypothesised to increase engagement in transactional sex. Therefore, we systematically examined the peer-reviewed literature to characterise what is known about transactional sex for natural resources, document the natural resources that are exchanged for sex, and identify qualitative trends. Of the 1063 articles, 33 were retained for full abstraction. A majority of articles were published after 2005 (93%) and focused on Africa (90%). Two-thirds of articles focused on sex-for-fish exchanges. Reports of transactional sex were also found for other resources, including agricultural land (12%) as well as food, water, and fuel in emergency contexts (12%). Migration and altered resource availability were described as underlying causes of transactional sex. Some studies described an increased risk of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, as a health consequence of transactional sex. We offer three possible explanations for why the preponderance of previous studies have focused on sex-for-fish rather than other natural resources, and suggest directions for future research.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1803-1814
Number of pages	12
Journal	Global Public Health
Volume	14
Issue number	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941
State	Published - Dec 2 2019

Funding

for this research was provided by Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Funding for this research was provided by Cornell University's Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

Fish-for-sex
HIV risk
climate change
environmental change
resource availability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941

Cite this

@article{b268b54821164a6e9ab363e36b8cbf9f,

title = "A review of transactional sex for natural resources: Under-researched, overstated, or unique to fishing economies?",

abstract = "Environmental change is projected to decrease the availability of key natural resources. Decreasing availability of resources that support food security and livelihoods for vulnerable populations is hypothesised to increase engagement in transactional sex. Therefore, we systematically examined the peer-reviewed literature to characterise what is known about transactional sex for natural resources, document the natural resources that are exchanged for sex, and identify qualitative trends. Of the 1063 articles, 33 were retained for full abstraction. A majority of articles were published after 2005 (93%) and focused on Africa (90%). Two-thirds of articles focused on sex-for-fish exchanges. Reports of transactional sex were also found for other resources, including agricultural land (12%) as well as food, water, and fuel in emergency contexts (12%). Migration and altered resource availability were described as underlying causes of transactional sex. Some studies described an increased risk of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, as a health consequence of transactional sex. We offer three possible explanations for why the preponderance of previous studies have focused on sex-for-fish rather than other natural resources, and suggest directions for future research.",

keywords = "Fish-for-sex, HIV risk, climate change, environmental change, resource availability",

author = "Fiorella, {Kathryn J.} and Pooja Desai and Miller, {Joshua D.} and Okeyo, {Nicky O.} and Young, {Sera L.}",

note = "Funding Information: for this research was provided by Cornell University{\textquoteright}s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Funding for this research was provided by Cornell University's Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, {\textcopyright} 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.",

year = "2019",

month = dec,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "14",

pages = "1803--1814",

journal = "Global Public Health",

issn = "1744-1692",

publisher = "Routledge",

number = "12",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A review of transactional sex for natural resources

T2 - Under-researched, overstated, or unique to fishing economies?

AU - Fiorella, Kathryn J.

AU - Desai, Pooja

AU - Miller, Joshua D.

AU - Okeyo, Nicky O.

AU - Young, Sera L.

N1 - Funding Information: for this research was provided by Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institutes of Mental Health. Funding for this research was provided by Cornell University's Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (to KJF). SLY was supported by K01 MH098902 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Mental Health or the National Institutes of Health. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2019/12/2

Y1 - 2019/12/2

N2 - Environmental change is projected to decrease the availability of key natural resources. Decreasing availability of resources that support food security and livelihoods for vulnerable populations is hypothesised to increase engagement in transactional sex. Therefore, we systematically examined the peer-reviewed literature to characterise what is known about transactional sex for natural resources, document the natural resources that are exchanged for sex, and identify qualitative trends. Of the 1063 articles, 33 were retained for full abstraction. A majority of articles were published after 2005 (93%) and focused on Africa (90%). Two-thirds of articles focused on sex-for-fish exchanges. Reports of transactional sex were also found for other resources, including agricultural land (12%) as well as food, water, and fuel in emergency contexts (12%). Migration and altered resource availability were described as underlying causes of transactional sex. Some studies described an increased risk of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, as a health consequence of transactional sex. We offer three possible explanations for why the preponderance of previous studies have focused on sex-for-fish rather than other natural resources, and suggest directions for future research.

AB - Environmental change is projected to decrease the availability of key natural resources. Decreasing availability of resources that support food security and livelihoods for vulnerable populations is hypothesised to increase engagement in transactional sex. Therefore, we systematically examined the peer-reviewed literature to characterise what is known about transactional sex for natural resources, document the natural resources that are exchanged for sex, and identify qualitative trends. Of the 1063 articles, 33 were retained for full abstraction. A majority of articles were published after 2005 (93%) and focused on Africa (90%). Two-thirds of articles focused on sex-for-fish exchanges. Reports of transactional sex were also found for other resources, including agricultural land (12%) as well as food, water, and fuel in emergency contexts (12%). Migration and altered resource availability were described as underlying causes of transactional sex. Some studies described an increased risk of sexually transmitted infection, including HIV, as a health consequence of transactional sex. We offer three possible explanations for why the preponderance of previous studies have focused on sex-for-fish rather than other natural resources, and suggest directions for future research.

KW - Fish-for-sex

KW - HIV risk

KW - climate change

KW - environmental change

KW - resource availability

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068185398&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85068185398&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941

DO - 10.1080/17441692.2019.1625941

M3 - Article

C2 - 31241005

AN - SCOPUS:85068185398

SN - 1744-1692

VL - 14

SP - 1803

EP - 1814

JO - Global Public Health

JF - Global Public Health

IS - 12

ER -

A review of transactional sex for natural resources: Under-researched, overstated, or unique to fishing economies?

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this