Transactional sex and mobile phones in a Tanzanian slum

Abstract

On the basis of semi-structured interviews conducted in 2010 and 2012, this article examines some of the social and economic impacts of transactional sex within a low-income area of Dar es Salaam, and how opportunities for transactional sex, in turn, have been expanded by mobile telephony. On the basis of my interviews, I posit that in areas of chronic poverty, familial strategies born of poverty depend on cooperation among family members, and it is therefore important to study those factors which most heavily influence an individual's willingness to cooperate. I conclude that transactional sex, and the new possibilities afforded by mobile phones for minors to conceal their sexual behavior from caretakers, are key elements in the intergenerational transmission of female poverty through early pregnancy and early marriage.