Blesser-blessee relationships: perspectives and experiences of students at Howard College, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

In South Africa there are some young women who engage in sexual relationship with older partners who are rich so that they will be provided with money and material items. The women involved are called blessees and their rich partners are called blessers. The practise is a form of transactional sex as older rich men (blessers) exchange money and expensive material items to get sex in return from the women (blessees). Transactional sex is motivated by two economic factors, which includes consumerism and survival. The aim of the study is to understand blesser-blessee relationships from the perspectives of students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Howard College. The study relies on a combination of in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions to better understand blesser-blessee relations. In total, there were 15 in-depth interviews, with ten females and five males as well as two focus group discussions. All the interviews were conducted with first-year students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The study found that as many black families in South Africa are faced with high levels of unemployment, so many parents are struggling to financially support their children. The rising cost of tuition fees, limited scholarship and bursaries, accommodation needs have been the major reason for first-year female students to engage in sexual relationship with blessers because they want financial assistance from them. Blessers were found to be violent, powerful and abusive to their partners. It was found that as these blessers were spending more money on students, this behaviour has given them more power in these blesser-blessee relationships. The big issue about such behaviour is that students involved in these types of relationship are at risk of HIV or STIs as the study revealed that these men are more likely to engage in sexual relationships with multiple partners. The study recommends that since blesser-blessee relationships involve sexual risk behaviours, prevention programmes must raise awareness among young women of the risks associated with these relationships.