The Irish Council for International Students welcomes new legislation targeting 'sex for rent' exploitation

The Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) strongly welcomes the government’s announcement to introduce new legislation to ban ‘sex for rent’ exploitation. Research carried out by ICOS in 2024 found that 5% of female international students said they had either received an offer to rent a room in exchange for sex, or had seen a room that was being advertised in exchange for sex. 

Speaking about the announced legislation, ICOS Policy and Communications Manager, Brian Hearne, said: ‘ICOS has been calling for the introduction of legislation to clamp down on ‘sex for rent’ exploitation in the rental market for several years, and we welcome the commitment from government to take action on this issue. We look forward to seeing details of the bill and engaging with the Minister for Justice and government on this important piece of legislation.’

ICOS commends the efforts of Senator Laura Harmon for her continued campaigning on this issue, as well as Darling Duran, a recent international student graduate from Bolivia, who bravely spoke about her experience of receiving inappropriate and exploitative sexual offers of rent free accommodation while searching for a place to live in Ireland.

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