Female students recruited to be escorts

The Independent has uncovered that female students are being offered up to £15,000 a year to pay for their university fees in return for having sex with a stranger. A website called SponsorAScholar.co.uk proclaimed that they have set 1,400 women between the ages of 17-24 with wealthy businessmen that funded their studies.

The website advertises women with glowing testimonials from satisfied customers and claims that most of the sponsors are “men between the ages of 28 and 50 who run their own successful business and want to have discreet adventures with a student whilst helping them fund their studies through a scholarship”.

The website states: “Because of the considerable sums of money our sponsors are offering in scholarship, they tell us that they have expectations of a high level of sexual intimacy with their chosen student.”

SponsorAScholar.co.uk offers young women “up to 100% of your Tuition Fees” in return for two-hour sessions with men in hotel rooms or private flats up to four times per term.

The website takes advantage of the ‘grey area’ of Britain’s sex laws that allow escort agencies to function legitimately by offering introductions between clients and sex workers. It is illegal to run a website where sex is offered for money but as a bypass services can offer models and escorts instead. People can only be arrested for controlling prostitution if there is direct evidence that sex is being exchanged form money.

SponsorAScholar.co.uk offers young women “up to 100% of your Tuition Fees” in return for two-hour sessions with men in hotel rooms or private flats up to four times per term

On the SponsorAScholar.co.uk website the extensive terms and conditions describe an agreement which covers time and companionship together. It says the “level of sexual intimacy” is privately agreed between student and sponsor whilst the owners of the website are not responsible for what occurs between consenting adults in a hotel room.

An under-cover female reporter for The Independent secretly filmed an interview she had with a male ‘assessor’ from SponsorAScholar.co.uk who told her that: “The more you’re prepared to do, the more interest you’re going to get, obviously the more sponsorship amount you’re going to get for that.”

He went on to say that she would have to undergo a ‘practical assessment’ with him for ‘quality control’ purposes and explained that “We have to do that, to make sure when we put you in front of your sponsor you’re confident in doing the things you said you would do.”

... a male ‘assessor’ from SponsorAScholar.co.uk who told her that: “The more you’re prepared to do, the more interest you’re going to get, obviously the more sponsorship amount you’re going to get for that

The man added: “You see what you’re trying to do is attract a certain level of sponsorship, you don’t want to go up there saying you know you’re not even going to hold hands type of thing… cause you’re not going to attract any interest at all.”

The male ‘assessor’ was later identified as Mark Lancaster. He refused to speak about the Sponsor a Scholar scheme when asked by a television programme. The website was taken down soon after the Independent published the story and secretly filmed video. The website has been altered and now say: “Sorry website unavailable for maintenance”.

Despite the website closing, a female escort claimed that she was approached by a man claiming to be from the website and are still trying to find new “scholars”.

Kelley Temple, NUS Women’s Officer, said: “It appears to be… exploiting the fact that women students are in dire financial situations in pursuit of an education.”

An anonymous student told Channel 4 News that when she went to a rented flat with the man for an interview, she was made to dress up in a schoolgirl outfit and pressured into having sex with her ‘assessor’.

When it came to the ‘practical’ part of the interview, the student found herself unable to fight off his advances. She said, “then he just kissed me before I really had time to think about it or ask any questions… and I just froze because I really didn’t know what to do. Then he started undressing me.

“I was in a different city, and he’d picked me up from outside the place and walked me in so in my mind I was, like ‘I can’t leave right now because I don’t know where I am and if I do leave and he chases me, I don’t know what to do’. So I just froze and went along with what he was doing.”

... the assessor “We have to do that, to make sure when we put you in front of your sponsor you’re confident in doing the things you said you would do."

Even after having sex with the stranger she was sent an email rejecting her from the scholarship programme but told her to reapply later. She said she hadcontacted the website as she was struggling to pay her university fees.

Concerns have been raised that due to the rise in tuition fees, some students will end up graduating with debts of up to £53,000. It has been thought that due to these huge debts students are turning to ulterior forms of employment such as pole dancing, escort work or prostitution in order to pay back these debts.

It has been said that university welfare officers are largely unaware of these situations and are poorly equipped to deal with these issues and the increase in young student’s involvement which such activities.

Research by Dr Ron Roberts, of the University of Kingston, published in 2010 suggested that one in four students know someone who had worked in the sex industry to fund their studies – up from three per cent in 1990. Dr Roberts found 16 per cent would consider working in the industry while more than one in 10 were open to the idea of being an escort.

It has been thought that due to these huge debts students are turning to ulterior forms of employment such as pole dancing, escort work or prostitution

Dr Dan Boucher, Director of Parliamentary Affairs for the International Christian Charity Care, said young people should not have to subject themselves to exploitation in order to complete their studies. “The Independent’s investigation has revealed one particular and disturbing manifestation of sexual exploitation.

“With a background of an 8 per cent fall in applications to university this year and mounting concerns about debts, it is clear that sexual predators have seen an opportunity to exploit the financial vulnerability of struggling students,” he said.

The police are currently examining the evidence collected during The Independent’s investigation and will try to establish whether the people behind the website can be prosecuted for the accused offences of incitement into prostitution and sexual exploitation.