BBC — Young, vulnerable people are being targeted with online classified adverts offering accommodation in exchange for sex, a BBC investigation has found.
The deals, which are legal, are on classified ad sites such as Craigslist.
Charities have described the adverts as exploitative and Hove MP Peter Kyle wants them made illegal. Craigslist, which on one day carried more than 100 such adverts, has not commented.
One student described how she felt her only option was a “sex-for-rent” deal. She said she had fled an abusive home and had nowhere to live.
“He took me into his living room, got me drinks, and then after that it was just straight upstairs and go for it.”
And she continued: “He would do what he wanted to do, forcefully, and I just sort of went along with it – after the third time, I started feeling physically unwell.”
Adverts seen by BBC South East included one posted by a Maidstone man asking for a woman to move in and pretend to be his girlfriend, another publicising a double room available in Rochester in exchange for “services” and one in Brighton targeting younger men.
One advert posted by a London landlord asked for a “naughty girl” to move in.
Landlords who posted the adverts were clear how the arrangement would work.
One said: “I was thinking once a week, something like that, I’m happy as long as there’s sex involved.”
Another said: “You agree sort of like a couple of times a week, pop into my room sort of thing, but as far as the apartment’s concerned, it’s like completely as if we’re flatmates. It’s all the bills, the rent, free.”
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