DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjahss.2025.v13i10.009

Pages: 440-447

Sex commodification although proscribed by cultural, religious and state institutions in most African countries, has remained a resilient practice sustaining livelihoods. As one of the major gender players in the sex economy, women are particularly affected in various ways, so too is the basic fabric of society and the community at large. It is in this context that this article examines the plights and impacts of female sex actors in the city of Bamenda. It argues that sex commodification is a conscious interplay between sacred tradition and capitalist transformation, survival and morality, stigma and agency. Drawing largely from oral testimonies and employing a qualitative analysis, the study reveals that sex commodification produced divergent consequences. On the one hand, it offered women avenues for livelihood in contexts marked by deprivation and economic crisis. On the other, it exposed them to challenges-psychological; mainly social stigma, and family strain as well as health setbacks manifested by sexually transmitted diseases. Again, the practice ruffled existing African cultural values of female sexuality that was centered on self-worth. The analysis concludes that as actors caught between the need for survival and the pressures of moral and civic condemnation; women engagement in sex commodification demonstrates the trend towards universalizing and particularizing societal actions in contemporary times.