Pledge to outlaw sex-for-rent practice 'as quickly as possible' brings little comfort to tenants
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The fall-out from RTÉ’s Primetime special on sex for rent was predictable—outcry on social media and in traditional media, promises from politicians that something would be done “as quickly as possible”.
So far, so reassuring. But not when we know that we have heard all this before when the published our investigation into sex-for-rent practices in Ireland more than 18 months ago.
So concerned was the government at the time about the practice that two of its departments sought advice from the Attorney General on what to do to tackle such blatant exploitation of people caught up in the rental market.
But even as pledges are made by the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to legislate against such practices as quickly as possible, her acknowledgment that there is yet no timeframe for action means that unscrupulous landlords will be able to continue targeting vulnerable renters with impunity for the foreseeable future.
The reactions this weekend is almost identical to those of December 2021 in the wake of our exposé of how prospective tenants were being targeted with offers of low or no rent in return for sexual favours.
As a result, the scenes shown on Thursday night’s programme did not shock me as it is an area I have been researching for a number of years.
When the cameras showed the interaction between the undercover reporter with landlords seeking sex-for-rent arrangements, it brought to mind my own undercover work on my investigation for the in December 2021.
Travelling to Newcastlewest in Limerick to “view” a property which was available for reduced rent in return for “fun” with the landlord to establish that he and the property existed and that he was serious about the sex-for-rent arrangement was surreal.
Knowing that I was lucky enough not to have to consider such an arrangement, I was very much aware that there were some women who had little choice other than to do so, amid a background of soaring rents and low availability of rental properties.
The renters being targeted in these situations are largely faceless, voiceless, have little money and are mainly from an immigrant background. Despite apparent noises about the need to tackle the offers made to women of reduced or no rent in return for sexual favours, the absence of the voices of many of those in receipt of such propositions makes it easier to forget the dangers some renters are being placed in.
One woman who was targeted with three sex-for-rent offers when she came to Ireland from Italy told me recently that she has had to have counselling to help her process the impact that being propositioned in such a way had on her.
She had high hopes that such practices would be rooted out in 2022, following the ’s investigation. She was delighted when the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022 was introduced on March 8 last year, describing the step as being the best International Women’s Day gift she could receive.
But fast forward to July 2023, we are still no nearer to legislating against the practice, with the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill having been halted at committee stage and the plan to examine the issue under prostitution laws now dependent on a long-delayed review of those laws.
Minister McEntee’s pledge on Friday that “we are trying to move on it as quickly as possible” will bring little comfort to those who have been targeted but will instead ensure that those offering such arrangements can continue to do so, knowing that there will be no penalties if they are caught.