To steelman the anti-sex-for-rent case, it could be considered that after the tenant has entered into that arrangement, the tenant could feel pressure to keep having sex with the landlord (even if they would prefer not to and would not at that later point choose to enter the contract) due to the transfer cost of moving to a new home. (Though this also applies to monetary rent, the potential for threatening the boundaries of consent is generally seen as more harmful than threatening the boundaries of one’s budget)
This could also be used as a point of leverage by the landlord to e.g. pressure the tenant to engage in sex acts they would otherwise not want to or else be evicted (unless the contract specifies from the beginning exactly what kind of sex the payment will entail). I think many people would see such actions by the landlord as more of an infringement upon the tenant than e.g. raising the amount of monetary rent (sacredness of sex/consent).
Additionally, this could be seen as a specific manifestation of the modern trend of more general opposition to sexual relationships with a power imbalance between the participants.
(Parenthetically, I also want to thank you for writing this post, as it’s a good expression of a principle I generally agree with)
Thanks for the comment. I think tenants are still better off with a legal contract than not. Analogously, a money-paying tenant with a legal contract has some protections against a landlord raising rents, and gets a notice period and the option to refuse and go elsewhere; a money-paying tenant who pays cash in hand to an illegal landlord probably has less leverage to negotiate. (Although there will be exceptions.) Likewise, a sex-paying tenant is better off with a legal contract.
I realise that the law won’t protect everyone and that some people will have bad outcomes no matter what—I deliberately picked this example to make people think about uncomfortable trade offs—but I still think the general approach of trying to give people more choice rather than less is preferable.
To steelman the anti-sex-for-rent case, it could be considered that after the tenant has entered into that arrangement, the tenant could feel pressure to keep having sex with the landlord (even if they would prefer not to and would not at that later point choose to enter the contract) due to the transfer cost of moving to a new home. (Though this also applies to monetary rent, the potential for threatening the boundaries of consent is generally seen as more harmful than threatening the boundaries of one’s budget)
This could also be used as a point of leverage by the landlord to e.g. pressure the tenant to engage in sex acts they would otherwise not want to or else be evicted (unless the contract specifies from the beginning exactly what kind of sex the payment will entail). I think many people would see such actions by the landlord as more of an infringement upon the tenant than e.g. raising the amount of monetary rent (sacredness of sex/consent).
Additionally, this could be seen as a specific manifestation of the modern trend of more general opposition to sexual relationships with a power imbalance between the participants.
(Parenthetically, I also want to thank you for writing this post, as it’s a good expression of a principle I generally agree with)
Thanks for the comment. I think tenants are still better off with a legal contract than not. Analogously, a money-paying tenant with a legal contract has some protections against a landlord raising rents, and gets a notice period and the option to refuse and go elsewhere; a money-paying tenant who pays cash in hand to an illegal landlord probably has less leverage to negotiate. (Although there will be exceptions.) Likewise, a sex-paying tenant is better off with a legal contract.
I realise that the law won’t protect everyone and that some people will have bad outcomes no matter what—I deliberately picked this example to make people think about uncomfortable trade offs—but I still think the general approach of trying to give people more choice rather than less is preferable.