Exploring the continuum of transactional sexual relations in refugee hosting: a case study of France

In the face of continued refugee arrivals, and a lack of State support, France has experienced a growth in the presence of refugee hosting organisations. Many of these are informal organisations, often composed of volunteers who have no previous experience of engagement with migrants or refugees, and offer a range of services principally housing but also economic support, and social or legal assistance. But whilst this growth of citizen “hospitality” towards refugees may be welcome in providing services which the State is not and in particular accommodation, there is also the potential for the production of gendered and racialised forms of violence and exploitation. Our research found frequent incidences of transactional sexual relations between volunteer hosts and refugees of all genders. These transactional sexual relations take various forms ranging from long-term amorous attachments to payment for one off sexual acts. In this article we explore the meanings of sexuality and intimacy in these relationships between volunteer hosts and refugees, and the structures of power and inequality within which they are situated. We analyse the gendered and racialised dimensions of these relations and the ways in which “hospitality” or “hosting” may produce violence and exploitation.