'Progress bill to outlaw sex for rent to stop predators targeting women'

Junior Justice Minister James Browne said he was acutely aware of the distress propositions such as those revealed in the 'Irish Examiner' last week could cause to people seeking accommodation. Stock picture: Anna Gowthorpe/PA

The bill to outlaw sex for rent in Ireland must be progressed as quickly as possible to penalise predators who target women in the rental sector.

That is according to Mia de Faoite, the Beyond Exploitation coordinator with the National Women’s Council of Ireland.

She was speaking after the Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022 passed through the second stage in the Dáil on Wednesday. The bill will now go to committee stage, with sources in Government hopeful that it will be addressed within “a number of weeks”.

The bill, brought by Social Democrats housing spokesman Cian O’Callaghan, proposes a maximum prison sentence of seven years, and a fine of up to €50,000. It seeks to outlaw sex for rent arrangements, as well as the advertising or hosting of advertising of sex for rent accommodation.

Ms de Faoite said: “State support in the form of criminal penalisation for those attempting to exploit women needs to be delivered without delay. This bill would strengthen 2017 legislation, which already criminalised exploitation through the purchase of sex. But we need specific intervention to target the predators preying on women who deserve and are entitled to safe accommodation.” She added: 

Sexual exploitation causes a myriad of harms, to both the individual and society, and we must ensure that our legislation gives the greatest protection possible to those who could be targeted. 

Executive director of the Rape Crisis Network of Ireland, Clíona Saidléar, said the refugee crisis arising out of the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need to address the issue about sex for rent.

Last week, the Irish Examiner revealed that an advertisement was placed on an online platform offering a sex for rent arrangement in Clare to a “slim Ukrainian” woman. The landlord refused to show photos of the accommodation or reveal the exact location unless the respondent to the advertisement supplied a photograph. 

Ms Saidléar told the Irish Examiner: “The sex for rent issue was something we were concerned about for some time but a crisis really brings it to the fore and I think that the refugees coming to Ireland and the concern about exploitation has really brought the issue to the fore in a way that has made it more urgent now.” 

She said the bill has also moved to clarify any ambiguity around whether sex for rent propositions are illegal. She added: “There should never have been any ambiguity around it.” She said the RCNI really welcomes the support from the government on the legislation, adding: 

Where there is a willingness, they can work very collaboratively with their partners across the floor and make sure that it will progress quickly and in partnership and collaboration. 

Junior Justice Minister James Browne said in the Dáil on Wednesday that the Government supports the legislation in principle and that he was acutely aware of the level of distress such propositions would cause to people seeking rental accommodation.

However, he said more clarity is required on what is meant by requiring sex as a condition of access to accommodation and who falls within the term of provider of accommodation in the legislation.

The Dáil was told that the issue will continue to be examined by the departments of Justice and Housing, along with the Attorney General.