Intergenerational Sexual Relationships: Are Older Men and Women Sex Predators?
Main Article Content
Abstract
Age-disparate sexual relationships are couched in unequal gender power dynamics, with grave social and health consequences. Older men dominate young women in sexual relationships owing to a masculine tendency. However, there is limited information on a new vista of age-disparate sexual relationships involving older women and young men. In this regard, this study explored gender and social inequalities in sexual relationships, which are largely undocumented. This study employed a qualitative research methodology to explore age-disparate sexual relationships between older men and young females, on the one hand, and young males and older women, on the other hand. Thirty (30) in-depth interviews (IDIs), six (6) focus group discussions (FGDs), and eighteen (18) key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted across the three main ethnic groups in Nigeria. The findings showed that older men dominated young women in sexual relationships through suppression, which undermined their ability to negotiate safer sex, diminished their individual agency, and led to multiple sexual partnerships. On the other hand, participants reported that older women lured young men into sexual relationships because of financial vulnerability, sexual urges, and young men's intentions to build contacts with the cream of society. Older men and women also preyed on their unsuspecting young victims for fetish reasons, such as ritual money and metaphysical atonement. This study showed that disadvantaged socio-economic status makes older men and women exploit and take advantage of young, unmarried women and men in sexual relationships. Wide age difference and the notion of fulfilling their side in a paid sexual intercourse make younger females and males unable to negotiate safer sex. These findings speak to gender and social inequalities in sexual relationships, which are largely undocumented in Nigeria. The study concluded that gender-based norms diminished the individual agency of emerging adults, especially females, in achieving positive sexual practices. There is a need for increased awareness of the inimical effects of age-disparate sexual relationships and transactional sex.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors hold the copyright of all published articles except otherwise stated.
References
Adedini, S. A, Mobolaji, J. W, Alabi, M., Fatusi, A. O (2021). Changes in contraceptive and sexual behaviours among unmarried young people in Nigeria: Evidence from nationally representative surveys. PLoS ONE 16(2): e0246309. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246309.
Agunbiade, O. M., and Aransiola, J. O. (2016). Patterns of risky sexual behaviours among emerging adults in intimate sexual relationships in two tertiary institutions, Southwest Nigeria, Child & Youth Services, DOI:10.1080/0145935X.2015.1099429.
Amare, T., Yeneabat, T., & Amare, Y. (2019). A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Epidemiology of Risky Sexual Behaviors in College and University Students in Ethiopia, 2018, 2019
Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and power. Stanford: Stanford University Press; 1987.
Connell, R. W. (2013). Gender and power: society, the person and sexual politics. Hoboken: Wiley; 2013.
Dana, L. M., Adinew, Y. M., & Sisay, M. M. (2019). Transactional Sex and HIV Risk among Adolescent School Girls in Ethiopia: Mixed Method Study. BioMed Research International, 2019(ID 4523475), 11. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4523475
Duby, Z., Jonas, K., McClinton, Appollis, T, et al. (2021). From survival to glamour: motivations for engaging in Transactional Sex and Relationships among adolescent girls and Young Women in South Africa. AIDS Behav. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-021-03291-z.
Evans, M., Risher, K., Zungu, N., Shisana, O., Moyo, S., Celentano, D. D., et al. (2016). Age-disparate sex and HIV risk for young women from 2002 to 2012 in South Africa. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19, 21310.
Hansen, M.A., Johansson, I. (2022). Predicting Attitudes Towards Transactional Sex: The Interactive Relationship Between Gender and Attitudes on Sexual Behaviour. Sex Res Soc Policy 19, 91–104 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-020-00527-w
Heise, L., Greene, M. E., Opper, N., Stavropoulou, M., Harper, C., Nascimento, M., & Zewdie, D. (2019). Gender inequality and restrictive gender norms: Framing the challenges to health. Lancet, 393(10189), 2440–2454. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)30652-x
Maina, B. W., I zugbara, C., Nandongwa, C., Kabiru, C. W. (2022). Gender Norms and Sexual Behavior among Very Young Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa. A scoping review Imprint Routledge Pages19 eBook ISBN9780429287213
Maughan-Brown, B., George, G., Beckett, S., Evans, M., Lewis, L., Cawood, C. (2018). HIV risk among adolescent girls and young women in age-disparate partnerships: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 78, 155–162.
National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] and ICF International. (2019). Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2019. Abuja, Nigeria and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NPC and ICF International.
Odimegwu, C. & Somefun, O. D. (2017). Ethnicity, gender and risky sexual behaviour among Nigerian youth: an alternative explanation. Reproductive Health 14(1), 16.
Odimegwu, C. O., & Adewoyin, Y. (Eds.). (2022). The Routledge handbook of African demography. New York, NY, USA: Routledge.
Odimegwu, C. Somefun, O. D., & Chisumpa, V. H. (2018). Regional Differences in Positive Sexual Behaviour among Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa. J Biosoc.sci doi:101715002193201800010X
Odimegwu, C.O., Ugwu, N. H (2022). A multilevel mixed effect analysis of neighbourhood and individual level determinants of risky sexual behaviour among young people in South Africa. Reprod Health 19, 119 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-022-01407-9
Schaefer, R, Gregson, S, Eaton, J.W, Mugurungi O, Rhead, R, Takaruza A, Maswera, R, Nyamukapa C. (2017). Age-disparate relationships and HIV incidence in adolescent girls and young women: evidence from a general-population cohort in Zimbabwe. In: AIDS; 2017.
Seidu, A, Gyan, Aboagye, R, Okyere, J, Agbemavi, W, Akpeke, M, Budu, E, Ishaque, Saah, F, Tackie, V, Opoku, Ahinkorah, B. (2021). Women’s autonomy in household decision-making and safer sex negotiation in sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of data from 27 Demographic and Health Surveys, SSM - Population Health, 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100773.
Stenersen, M. R., Ovrebo, E., Adams, K. L., & Hayes, L. R. (2020). Foreigners’ Attitudes Toward Individuals Who Sell Sex in Thailand: A Prototype Study. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 9(2), 131–144.
Ugwu, N. H., & Odimegwu, C. O. (2024). Prevalence and neighbourhood determinants of early sexual debut and multiple sexual partnerships among young people in Rwanda, Ghana and South Africa. African Journal of AIDS Research, 23(1–2), 41–59. https://doi.org/10.2989/16085906.2024.2343395
Ugwu, N.H., Odimegwu, C.O. (2024). Contextual determinants of multiple sexual partnerships amongst young people in South Africa: a multilevel analysis. BMC Public Health 24, 1533 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-18872-5
Wamoyi, J., Ranganathan, M., Kyegombe, N., & Stoebenau, K. (2019). Improving the Measurement of Transactional Sex in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Review. Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 80(4), 367–374
Wamoyi, J., Stobeanau, K., Bobrova, N., Abramsky, T., & Watts, C. (2016). Transactional sex and risk for HIV infection in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19(20992), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.7448/IAS.19.1.20992
Wamoyi, J., Stoebenau, K., Kyegombe, N., Heise, L., & Meghna, R. (2017). Measuring transactional sex and HIV risk. 1–5.
Wet, N. De, Frade, S., Akinyemi, J., & Spencer, G. (2018). Extra mouths to feed: The odds of young mothers engaging in transactional sexual relationships in South Africa. Cogent Social Sciences, 4(1482986), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2018.1482986
Zhang, J., Jemmott, J. B., & Heeren, G. A. (2017). Sub-Saharan African university students’ beliefs about abstinence, condom use, and limiting the number of sexual partners. Behavioural Medicine, 43, 9–20.