From Bride Price to Sex Price- The Politics of Women’s Bodies in Economic Exchange

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, lobola, or bride price, along with sex work or transactional sex work, represent two separate but intertwined forms of economic and bodily commodification embedded in culture, law, and socio-economic structures. While lobola is primarily a marriage custom rooted in socio-cultural and family systems, sex work is situated within a legal framework and is predominantly regarded as a public health, humanitarian, and gender vulnerability concern. The political economy, legal-institutional framework, and empirics of women’s lives converge in shaping women’s agency, rights access, entitlements, and the services available to them. The principal aim of this literature review is to synthesize literature from law, anthropology, public health, and gender studies to: (1) construct conceptualizations and institutional frameworks of lobola and sex work in Zimbabwe; (2) identify key drivers, harms, and possible merits in relation to gender equity, health, and legal rights; and (3) highlight empirical, theoretical, and policy gaps to inform advocacy, research, and legal reform. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, literature searches will cover published and grey literature, legal texts, NGO reports, and policy documents from 2000 to 2025. Sources will be selected using Population, Concept, and Context criteria, and synthesized along legal-institutional embedding, cultural political economy, health and rights, and agency and constraint axes. The review will analyze lobola ethnographic and legal studies alongside public health and human rights literature critiquing the criminalization and stigma affecting female sex workers. Comparative mapping is expected to reveal dominant commodification processes alongside variation in institutional embedding, legal protection, and social legitimacy. This review aims to illuminate the interrelation of economic downturns, gendered exclusion, and legal and policy infrastructures governing women’s bodies and work, while underscoring evidence and policy gaps relevant to gender-equitable reform.