"You Still Need to Give Her a Token of Appreciation": The Meaning of the Exchange of Money in the Sexual Relationships of Out-Of-School Adolescents in Rural Southwest Uganda‪.‬

Exchange in adolescent sexual relationships is often described as a transaction with inherent risk (Chatterji, Murray, London, & Anglewicz, 2004; Luke, 2003). Concerns about the health risks associated with transactional sex are understandable, particularly for adolescents. Young people who are forced through circumstance to have sex for money or "survival sex" (Muir, 1991; Preston-Whyte, Varga, Oosthuizen, Roberts, & Blose, 2000) are, likewise, exposed to greater risk (Edwards, Iritani, & Hallfors, 2006; Haley, Roy, Leclerc, Boudreau, & Boivin, 2004). However, the same evidence presented by these authors tends to demonstrate more complex motivations for sex than merely money. Luke's (see Luke & Kurtz, 2002) review of the literature on cross-generational and transactional sexual relationships in sub-Saharan Africa explains that "motivation for financial rewards tend to be complex, ranging from economic survival to desire for status and possession" (p. 48) were consistent themes in the wide variety of sub-Saharan African literature they reviewed; they also found that "extreme household poverty as a motivator of sexual activity was less often described" (p. 48). It is assumed that exchange is likely to be underreported in the sub-Saharan African literature reviewed because of the stigma associated with exchange (Luke & Kurtz, 2002). In a later review, Luke (2003) reported that the evidence suggests that gifts have "become common" (p. 77) and "a symbol of a girl's worth" (p. 73), which, if not offered, young women would become offended.