Sugar dating, the act of a usually economically weaker party entering a romantic relationship with an economically stronger party for a material benefit, is not an uncommon phenomenon in the modern world. At Cambridge University alone, over one thousand students were sugar babies in according to the leading sugar dating website Seeking Arrangement The Daily Mail , 24 March But is it legal?
And if so, what is it? The first question can only be answered once the second question has been answered. The two will therefore be considered in turn. What comes to mind at first for many is probably prostitution. Interestingly enough, the sugar dating website Seeking Arrangement excludes the use of its website for prostitution and also escorting expressly in its Terms of Use Terms of Use , 30 October But what it says in the terms is not necessarily complied with by users and it should be noted that this is likely a pre-emptive legal cover of the website itself since it operates in over countries and prostitution is not legal in all of them.
In turn, Sugar Daddies or Mommas find beautiful members to accompany them at all times. The euphemisms should, however, be seen for what they are: Euphemisms. Some of the relationships between a sugar daddy or mommy and a sugar baby may well be non-sexual, but it is clear that not all of them are.
But our definition will have to accommodate both versions of this new type of relationship. So where does sugar dating fall in the legal framework? A clear contract. But what exactly does B promise and what exactly is D paying for? Is it sex? Is it having someone live with you in your house? Is it having someone sit across from you at a dinner table?
Or having someone take a walk in the park with you every Sunday? Theoretically, it could be all of the above. So the nature of the contract will differ from arrangement to arrangement. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the options of the contractual nature such relationships could take on:. Prostitution : Should D provide the promised material benefits expressly in exchange for sexual relations, it would be a case of prostitution.
