Sex for rent: 'I personally think if I was at the house alone I could have got raped'
Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil there was no legislation currently in place to deal with the practice but the Departments of Justice and Housing are considering advice from the attorney general on the issue.
A young woman who moved out of rented accommodation in Waterford City after her landlord told her she could live there free in exchange for sex, was shocked when he turned up at her workplace the following day.
The incident occurred after she responded to an advertisement for a room last October.
She is one of a number of women who have come forward to the about being offered accommodation at low or reduced rent, with the expectation that sex or bed-sharing would be part of the arrangement.
On Thursday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil there was no legislation currently in place to deal with the practice but the Departments of Justice and Housing are considering advice from Paul Gallagher, the attorney general, on the issue.
The has also spoken to four international students in their early 20s, who were seeking accommodation in Limerick City when they were contacted by a man who offered them a room.
The women were led to believe they were being offered a private room.
However, it became evident they would actually be sharing their would-be landlord’s bed.
In the Waterford case, the woman was asked for €55 rent per week for a single room, and a €200 deposit.
After moving in, she discovered the landlord was sub-letting the room to her.
He told her he had told his landlord his girlfriend was moving in with him. He also did not want her long-term boyfriend to visit the property and initially refused her a key to her room.
She immediately moved out when he told her sex was to be part of the arrangement and that she would not be required to pay rent.
The €55 payment, and the €200 deposit, were to pay the electricity bill, he said.
The man tried several times to contact her by phone that night and the following day, before turning up at her workplace to find her.
She says now: “I personally think if I was at the house alone I could have got raped or something.”
In the Limerick incidents, it is unclear whether all four women were contacted by the same individual, as the messages, seen by this newspaper, came from two different social media accounts.
However, the style of message, pictures of the room, and location are the same. The man in question offers them a room for a short time while they find their feet.
However, after arranging a viewing, he tells them the room is in fact his, and they would have to share his bed.
In one set of messages seen by the Irish Examiner, the man says the woman can stay for free for 14 days if she will “be with” the man, “like a girlfriend”.
When another woman says she is bringing a friend with her to the viewing, to translate, the man says she must come alone and that he speaks her language.
However, when the woman responds in Portuguese, he admits he cannot understand her.
Another one of the women said that she woke up on the morning she was due to view the house with over 20 missed calls from the man, all of which were made after 2am.
He had also sent her dozens of photos of herself, that he had taken from her Facebook, with various “creepy” comments attached.
None of the women went to view the room, after learning they would be sharing the man's bed.
