A sugar dating Web site that was launched in Taiwan in October last year claims to have attracted more than 50,000 members in less than six months. Although the number might be exaggerated, it provides a glimpse into the size of the market, and demonstrates the risk of child and youth sex exploitation as the Web site does not limit the age of its members.
Sugar dating is a pseudo-romantic relationship between a “sugar daddy” and a “sugar baby,” with the sugar daddy paying money or other material benefits in exchange for sex, companionship or a relationship. Sugar dating Web sites provide a service for those seeking this kind of arrangement.
Sugar dating is controversial in Taiwan, as some criticize it as long-term sex work and the Web sites playing the role of a pimp, but some think that it is a person’s freedom to choose if they want to use their appearance to earn money, and that the sugar babies have more autonomy compared with those who work in the traditional sex industry because they can choose their sugar daddy and dating locations.
Photo: Screen grab from Web site
Taiwan has nearly 10 sugar dating Web sites, and they tend to advertise themselves as providing sugar babies with the tools to earn a living or additional pocket money, while enjoying the feeling of being adored and getting to meet successful people.
Sugar daddies can develop a dream relationship without having to worry about privacy leaks, they say.
A statistical report by the sugar dating Web site Sugarbook.com showed that it has more than 30,000 registered sugar babies, with the majority being students, and more than 20,000 sugar daddies, indicating the high demand for these services, despite being morally controversial.
Although most sugar dating Web sites ask users to verify that they are at least 18 years old to sign up for an account, they have no identity verification mechanism, so minors can easily become members as long as they provide an e-mail address.
However, Sugarbook.com in its terms of use says that “the platform is not responsible for any consequences of minors using the platform.”
Taoyuan City Councilor Chu Chen-yao (朱珍瑤) said that sugar dating Web sites were growing popular on school campuses, adding that even junior-high school students were signing up, worrying parents.
Aside from the risk of child and youth sex exploitation, sugar babies and sugar daddies interviewed by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) said that there are many scammers on sugar dating Web sites.
Sugar babies might be scammed for money or sex, while sugar daddies might be targets of honey trapping, so men and women must exercise caution when using the sites, they said.
A case from four years ago showed that a junior-high school student named Nana (pseudonym) in Kaohsiung met a man surnamed Hsu (徐) through a sugar dating Web site, initiating a paid sexual relationship, but later Hsu forced her to be a call girl and matched her with other men for prostitution.
They also used a sugar dating Web site to attract more customers, with Hsu teaching Nana how to set honey traps and extort money from people. The case was exposed after a man reported it to the police after he was threatened, but the number of victims is still unknown.
Interviews with three sugar daddies showed that they think there is more of a “feeling of love” from sugar dating than the traditional sex industry.
There are also younger sugar daddies, some as young as in their 20s, who are willing to pay for a sense of “dating” after they have failed in the dating market, or when they feel sugar dating comes with less strings attached and prefer to not have the responsibility of maintaining a relationship.
According to sugar babies sharing their experiences online, they can earn about NT$40,000 to NT$60,000 from four to five dates a month, and sometimes more if they meet more or hit it off.
Sugar dating Web sites often exaggerate the income that sugar babies can earn, and hardly mention the dark side of sugar dating. Some sugar babies have shared online about the risks, including being scammed faced threats to their safety.
Some sugar babies said they were scammed for free sex, such as by promising to pay after sex, but immediately leaving afterward.
Some sugar babies said there are sugar daddies who promised to use a condom but secretly took it off, or that they had found hidden cameras in the room and were suspected of being recorded, but they were afraid to confront the sugar daddy for fear of putting themselves in further danger.
National Chung Hsing University Department of Law professor Bernard Kao (高玉泉) said the sugar dating Web sites advertise themselves as providing sugar babies with a resource so they can earn an allowance, indicating that sugar dating is a quid pro quo affair.
However, as the Web sites earn up to thousands of dollars per month from VIP membership fees, they could be considered as profiting as a third party to prostitution.
Kao said the Web sites might have breached the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) and could be fined for matching adults to engage in prostitution. However, if one of the parties is a minor, the Web sites would be in breach of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒少性剝削防制條例) and face criminal charges.
“Sugar dating is only sales talk to embellish prostitution,” women’s rights group the Garden of Hope Foundation deputy CEO Wang Shu-fen (王淑芬) said, adding that the Web sites’ marketing methods could mislead children or adolescents into having unrealistic ideas and thinking that they could meet company presidents through the Web sites, or become “princesses” without having to do anything.
“Can children really see through the sales talk? And do they really know the price they have to pay?” she asked.
The law academic and the civic group said the Web sites should have an age verification mechanism and add a warning message to ensure minors cannot sign up.
They urged the government to pay attention to the issue, adding that prosecutors and police should investigate if there is child and youth sex exploitation.
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