Landlord asking student tenant for intimate photo is 'sexual exploitation' 

'Asking for that photograph is exploitation. It is hard to see why somebody would be looking to see somebody in an intimate body image for any reason other than for sexual exploitation.'

A situation in which a student was asked for an intimate photo of herself by her landlord is a clear example of sexual exploitation in the housing market.

That is according to the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Noeline Blackwell. She was reacting to the experience of Alma Yasbeth Pacheco Correa from Mexico City, who told the Irish Examiner on Saturday that she was asked for the photo by her landlord a number of months after paying him a deposit for a room in his house in Tallaght for the current academic year.

Ms Blackwell said: “Asking for that photograph is exploitation. It is hard to see why somebody would be looking to see somebody in an intimate body image for any reason other than for sexual exploitation.” 

She added: “It is something that is not providing a safe tenancy for someone to do that. It is an unsafe place for a person to be.” 

Ms Pacheco Correa did not respond when her landlord texted her in July asking her for the photo. A month later, he contacted her again to tell her that the room she had paid a €480 deposit for would not be available until October because his ill sister needed it. 

He told her she could get her deposit back if that timeframe did not suit her. She opted to get her deposit back but has been unable to do so.

She has now secured alternative accommodation. However, she says she was also offered a bed-sharing arrangement with a different landlord just weeks later.

Ms Blackwell said the case was a “terrible indictment of somebody that they would try to exploit somebody who is terribly vulnerable.” 

The Ban on Sex for Rent Bill 2022 is currently at pre-legislative scrutiny stage by the Oireachtas Justice Committee.

It was introduced in the Dáil on March 8, following an investigation since last December by the Irish Examiner into sex for rent offers being made to people seeking homes in the rental sector. 

The bill proposes a jail term of seven years and a fine of up to €50,000. The offences in the bill include sex-for-rent propositions, as well as the advertising of such propositions, and the hosting of such advertisements.