VANCOUVER — The advertisement appeared in the rooms and shares section of an online classified website and offered “free rent for the right girl.”
• “I'm an attractive mid 30s white male, clean, groomed, fit. Let’s drink tonight and see if we can make this work.”
The ad wasn’t the only one of its kind.
• “Rent negotiable or open to alternate payment ideas.”
• “Free rent for a female that is willing to play the roll (sic) of a wife.”
The Vancouver men posting these ads don’t always say it outright, but their intent is clear: sexual favours instead of rent.
The ads have become common over the past year or so as Vancouver’s housing prices have skyrocketed, leaving more people in search of accommodations.
Rentals have become expensive and scarce, and people are looking for roommates to offset the cost. Similar ads have appeared on classified sites in other cities with hot housing markets, such as San Francisco, New York and Auckland, New Zealand.
The fact that the ads have left the personals section of sites such as Craigslist and are appearing alongside legitimate appeals for roommates adds to the concern for some.
“It’s taking advantage of the fact that this is a terrible market in which to find reasonably priced living space. It’s very low vacancy rates and very high rents,” said Janine Benedet, a professor at the University of B.C.’s Peter A. Allard School of Law.
Benedet classified the ads as soliciting prostitution and said that under current law — specifically Sec. 286.1 of the Criminal Code, which deals with the commodification of sexual activity — offering to provide accommodation in exchange for sex is illegal.
“New criminal laws make it illegal to pay for sex. It’s a way of paying for sex,” she said.
Not only does she consider the ads illegal, she said they could also run afoul of provincial human rights laws and constitute sexual harassment.
“It’s not simply a mutual sexual relationship where they share accommodation,” Benedet said. “It leaves individuals in a very vulnerable position if they need to submit to sexual acts they otherwise wouldn’t want to keep a roof over their head.”
Const. Brian Montague, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department, said the ads technically aren’t illegal because of the way they are worded.
The men most often couch their intention by saying they are looking for “a companion,” a roommate to share their bed or “a part-time assistant” to do massages.
“We can all [infer] what they mean, but obviously, police can’t arrest people based on assumptions,” Montague said.
Montague advised ignoring ads that offer free rent in exchange for questionable activities.
Samantha Grey, spokeswoman for Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, said the organization has long been aware of men using Craigslist for prostitution. She said the tactic of trading housing for sexual services is a relatively new way to exploit women, but not out of the ordinary.
“I think these ads are appearing on Craigslist as a way for men to use their power, their access to housing, as a way to exploit women’s economic desperation,” Grey said. “We’re in a housing crisis, women are in poverty.”
