Over the past decade, an unconventional method of dating known as sugaring has become increasingly popular. Sugaring is when a younger woman and an older, wealthy man form a relationship in which the man, the sugar daddy, gives the woman, the sugar baby, money and gifts in exchange for the time they spend together.
The phenomenon often draws comparisons to prostitution. Both prostitution and sugaring involve exchanging money for intimate services. While sugaring does not always include sexual acts, it is often part of the arrangement. Those who are involved in sugaring often differentiate between prostitution and sugaring by emphasizing the dating aspect of sugaring.
They say that prostitution is flat-out exchanging money for sex, and being a sugar baby is more similar to being in a consensual, adult relationship where your partner supports you financially. This grey area begs an important question: Can you be charged with prostitution or solicitation for engaging in sugaring? Many websites that facilitate the formation of these mutually beneficial relationships ensure the use of specific language to skirt legal liability and have strict policies against advertising sex in exchange for money.
Despite this, the main investor behind RichMeetBeautiful, a sugar daddy dating site, was convicted of promoting prostitution in Belgium, where prostitution is legal, but related activities, such as soliciting and pimping, are illegal. According to Washington D. Under this definition, it would not be difficult to charge someone with prostitution or solicitation due to the broad parameters for what acts are prohibited and what can be exchanged in the relationship to constitute a violation of the law.
Previously, owners of websites were not legally responsible for the actions of their site users. However, under this new law, every site or online platform will be held liable for hosting anything on their website that the law describes as prostitution.
