Darling Duran was looking for a place to rent in Dublin when a notice for a one-bedroom apartment for €700 a month came up on her Facebook feed.
When she contacted the man who was advertising the space, it turned out he lived in the apartment and she would have to share a bed with him.
“He said to me, ‘I’m single and I don’t have a problem sharing my bed with you’. I didn’t accept it of course but after that, he was trying to invite me on a date.”
Ms Duran is a 38-year-old digital marketing graduate who moved to Ireland from Bolivia in the summer of 2022. She first studied English before completing her marketing masters at Dublin Business School.
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This offer of sex in exchange for rent is something she and her friends have come across frequently in their search for accommodation in Ireland.
Their experience is reflected in the Irish Council for International Students survey published on Wednesday which found some 5 per cent of female respondents (14 women) had either received an offer to rent a room in Ireland in exchange for sex or had seen a room that was being advertised in exchange for sex.
“As women, we are in a very vulnerable position. We need a place to stay, so some people take advantage of this and use this power to manipulate,” said Ms Duran.
Securing accommodation through official channels such as a letting agent is “impossible” for international students who have just moved to Ireland because they do not have the required references and their visas are only temporary, she says.
Instead, they look on Facebook and in community WhatsApp groups which she says are “full of scams”.
The first rented accommodation Ms Duran stayed in was a short–term let in Dublin 8 where she shared a room with another girl for €600 a month.
The man from whom she rented the room lived in the sittingroom, while another two girls lived in a second bedroom. All five shared one bathroom.
“It was very difficult, but when you don’t have another option, you have to keep going,” said Ms Duran.
After this she moved to a four-bedroom house in Dublin 8 where she shared a room with three other girls, each paying €600 a month, with 12 residents in total in the house.
“When you are a student it is very hard because you don’t have a place to study, you don’t have the privacy of your place, because you are always surrounded by people,” said Ms Duran.
She now has her own room in a four-bedroom house in Tallaght which she shares with three other girls and is renting from an Irish friend.
They each pay about €550 a month in rent and she is happy there.
“I am very lucky. This place is so much better – the universe helped me,” she says.
