Goods for sex despite AIDS risk, study finds

Despite the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, research has found that young women in South Africa are using sex with multiple partners to bargain for items like cellular phones, clothes and make-up. The University of Natal's head of anthropology and author of the study, Suzanne Leclerc-Madlala, said "conspicuous consumption is a central motivating factor" in these relationships. Leclerc-Madlala was quoted by the local Saturday Star newspaper as saying: "The increase in consumer values among youth, combined with the threat of a short life because of HIV/AIDS, means that young women are now having sex for material things." Sixty women surveyed in four areas told researchers the use of a condom was entirely the man's decision. UNAIDS has estimated that one in five adults in South Africa are living with HIV/AIDS.