Sex for rent

Paying for sex with a person who is of legal age and not being coerced or exploited is not against the law in England, Scotland and Wales, @AgnesX . If you're in Northern Ireland then yes, it is.

Exploiting people with few options who need somewhere to live (the sex for rent described above) is illegal, AFAIK.

I believe paying for sex IS against the law. Offering it isn't.

That said I'm not a lawyer and don't work in that field.

Either way it's pretty despicable..

This is vile but as long as there are women prepared to do this, it will continue

I agree it’s disgusting. Though worth pointing out that it’s basically the same as prostitution given that many/most prostituted women will be using money from prostitution to cover their rent. They wouldn’t be doing it unless they had bills to pay. So if anyone is (rightly IMO) appalled by sex for rent and agree that it should be a criminal offence, you should also be appalled by prostitution in general and call for all men who pay for sex to be criminalised (i.e. support the Nordic model). They too are exploiting poorer women.

Modern slavery dressed up as something else.

Having read this I am so happy to be single and 'stuck' with loving pets and a great, independent life...

I just don't understand how so many men only see women as subhuman sex toys.

Appalling.

Being on my own with a load of cats is my ideal life 😁😁

So….this is sex work. The girls may not be getting cash, but they’re getting rent in lieu of cash.

The ‘doing the girl a favour’ thing really bugs me. I worked with a guy who used a prostitute when he went to Thailand. He said that what he paid her was what an average Thai worker earns in a week (but was peanuts for him). Because he ‘gave’ her a weeks’ salary, he acted like he was a fucking philanthropist.

Paying for sex is (generally speaking) legal in the UK, so that is not the issue.

The offence is either causing or controlling prostitution.

What do you call it when someone pays for sex?

How awful and depressing. Our society really hasn't progressed ss far as we like to imagine, has it? Hopefully these revolting predatory men can be prosecuted.

wtf seriously?

I've not watched the documentary yet OP, but I'm disgusted that there were so many comments supporting the landlord

Sadly, I can't say I'm ever so surprised- there seems to be an increased tolerance (acceptance from some) for porn/ sex work in the mainstream. I'm sure that easier access to porn and the marketing of sites such as onlyfans as more of a 'home business' is serving to normalise sex work.

Also, this is included as a "Priority Offence" in the new Online Safety Act 2023. What this means is that sites like Facebook, Gumtree or anywhere else that people might put up these adverts in the UK will, in the future, have to have processes in place that will identify adverts like this.

How they are supposed to do that hasn't been decided yet!

Ofcom are currently coming up with codes of practice which websites will have to follow.

Yes, it's an offence under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Section 52 and Section 53, causing and controlling prostitution.

But the CPS hadn't really thought about it until there were a couple of undercover TV shows that highlighted it (the other was on ITV) which led to the issue being raised in parliament in 2018. Only then did the CPS change it's guidance which now says this:

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/prostitution-and-exploitation-prostitution

The first prosecution was in 2022 and the guy got 12 months in prison:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10800957/Sex-rent-landlord-52-jailed-year-giving-room-woman-sex-him.html

It's absolutely disgusting.

I've been pretty sheltered for most of my life: my Dad was a good man, my dp is a decent bloke and I've always had male friends.
It's only the last few years that I've realised how shitty a lot of men are.

Scum like the men in the documentary even tried taking advantage of Ukrainian refugees. There were loads of them advertising spare rooms but making it clear that they were only interested in renting to young women.

Taking advantage of women fleeing war was a new low.

Yes I watched it when it was on originally.
Grim.

Very depressing stuff. But have to say, the fact that we clearly all agree that this is horrible just goes to show that 'sex work is work' is just not true.

No one would mind lowering rent in exchange for mowing the lawn or whatever. Sex work (in all its various shapes and forms) is very often exploitative and I wish we all a society would stop glamourising it.

@JMSA

The documentary was first shown in 2019.

As grim as this is, are they actually breaking the law?

Is this a new programme or has it been shown before? I could be wrong, but it sounds really familiar.

There is nothing more depressing than the comments written by men in the social media comments sections (I'm talking about FB, as that is the only SM I have).
It makes me despair.

My sister read something on there about women not choosing to have children. Many of the men's comments were predictably awful. One wrote 'you're just going to be stuck on your own with a load of cats.'

My sis replied 'don't threaten us with a good time'

Your moral compass would have to be truly fucked not to see how wrong these types of scenarios are.

I don't understand how vile men can never see when they're in the wrong. I hope they do jail time.

Clearly got a few men on here at the moment. 🙄 God help us all if it's women thinking this shit is OK.

I'm horrified that 10 people who have voted are OK with this...I hope they don't have daughters or sisters who may end up in this situation!