ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the transactions that constitute transactional sex are complex and involve more than just straightforward exchanges in which 'women give men sex' and 'men give women money'. It examines what is transacted in transactional sex, other than, sex and money. The chapter also examines how the transacting parties manage the exchange relationship. Existing scholarship on transactional sex in Africa links the practice almost exclusively to economic survival and, in doing so, often portrays the women involved as victims. The chapter is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) campus over a sixteen-month period from August 2006 to December 2007. Like most Zimbabweans, the UZ students have been deeply affected by the country's ongoing economic crisis. Transactional sex at the UZ is popularly referred to as Big Dhara or NABA relationships. The relationships hold other attractions for the young women concerned. The notion of being 'flashy on campus' appears to be central.
