THOUSANDS of vulnerable people are continuing to be targeted by landlords offering accommodation in return for sex, the First Minister heard yesterday.

Pauline McNeill, a Labour MSP for Glasgow, told Nicola Sturgeon that according to a campaign group 2000 women a year – including students and people struggling for money – had been targeted by online advertisers.

She urged the First Minister to consider if the law could be strengthened to crackdown on advertising sex for rent.

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“Last year, it was reported in the press that adverts explicitly seeking sex for rent were appearing online,” she told Holyrood during First Minister’s Questions yesterday.

“As a result of those reports, websites such as Craigslist enhanced the filters that they apply to stop the practice. However, landlords are still seeking sex for rent through online ads by using euphemistic terms such as “rent for fun”.

“Living Rent has claimed that 2000 women are offered rent in exchange for sex every year. I have seen for myself that those adverts deliberately target vulnerable people by claiming—this is the key point—that the arrangement is perfectly suited to students or people who are struggling for money.”

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She added: “Does the First Minister agree that the practice is immoral and that it should be against the law to prey on vulnerable men and women who are struggling for money?

“If a gap in the law exists, I urge the First Minister to speak to the Lord Advocate to legislate against advertising sex for rent.”

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The First Minister said “forcing someone ... to participate in sexual activity is a crime already” but added the issue of whether further legislation was needed would be a matter for Holyrood.

She said that Scottish government minister Kevin Stewart had previously written to online platforms, to draw their attention to the unacceptability of the practice.