BaoDongNai: 'Lover' rental services flourish on social media

* “Virtual” services that exist in real life

Simply type phrases such as “rent a lover; sexual partner; travel companion…” into Google, and the screen quickly displays numerous social media addresses introducing service packages with appealing advertising claims such as: reputable, confidential, affordable, all ages, looks and educational backgrounds, and especially opportunities to turn “pretend love” into “real love” to choose from.

For example, the “Find a Life Partner Club” page describes itself as the first and only company in Việt Nam organized on a corporate scale, with credibility and confidentiality as its guiding principles, creating opportunities for every member to get acquainted and make friends, presenting this as a good way to develop a serious relationship through events with friends of the opposite sex who meet their desired criteria.

Another website introduces itself as follows: "In the hustle and bustle of today's society, we are often swept up in the struggle to make a living and do not have enough time to find our other half. Fully aware of the limitations of modern life and the enormous demand in the market, we established the Find a Life Partner Club in the hope of connecting like-minded hearts, helping customers find happiness while still ensuring they have time for work".

Meanwhile, the personal website of N.P.T.H. - “Lover rental services for outings and travel” advertises the following: lovers, boyfriends and girlfriends for hire for outings, travel, nightclubs… This website pledges not to provide services related to prostitution or contrary to the law and traditional customs and values.

Well acquainted with these types of online services, H.V.L. (a resident of Long Bình Ward, Biên Hòa City) said: “Truth and falsehood are mixed together, making it very hard to judge without trying the service at least once. Spending a few hundred thousand dong to explore the service is merely ‘taking a cursory look’ for fun, but only when you are willing to spend a few million to tens of millions of dong do you see its appeal and realize whether it is serious or not”.

According to H.V.L., people unfamiliar with the links used to log into this website can easily lose money or be unable to proceed to the next steps. Once inside, customers find themselves in a “forest of beautiful flowers”, with numerous packages ranging from a few million to tens of millions of dong, depending on who accompanies them: a beauty queen, a student or a hot girl, for how long, and what they do together…

* “Outside” legal regulations

Current civil and business laws contain no provisions authorizing or licensing services renting out lovers, friends… Because the law currently has no regulations governing this type of service, individuals and organizations operating and promoting it are viewed and judged negatively by society. This is because, despite social progress and the freedom to love and make friends, paying someone to be a companion (of the same or opposite sex) to show off, travel or attend parties together… is incompatible with Vietnamese traditional customs, values, sentiments and moral principles.

The opposing view holds that, since the law neither prohibits nor authorizes this type of service, individuals and businesses have the right to provide it. This is acceptable as long as their services comply with the law, do not run counter to social ethics and are not disguised prostitution.

Lawyer Ngô Văn Định, Deputy Director of the Legal Advice Center (provincial Lawyers Association), said that it is true that our country's current civil and business laws contain no legal provisions governing lover or life partner rental services. However, since these services do exist in society, other legal factors must also be considered in assessing them.

For example, if the service provider and the client enter into a contract that satisfies Article 117 and Article 513 of the 2015 Civil Code, the transaction is recognized and respected by law. However, transactions that violate the law or social ethics, such as disguised prostitution, human trafficking or violations of labor law… are naturally prohibited and must not be carried out.

Also according to lawyer Ngô Văn Định, any act of exploiting a service business to engage in prostitution is strictly prohibited under Clause 8, Article 4 of Ordinance No. 10/2003/PL-UBTVQH11 issued by the National Assembly Standing Committee on 17-3-2003 on the Prevention and Control of Prostitution. Acts of enticing, luring, making promises, deceptive advertising or using other tactics to deceive workers or recruit workers for human trafficking, exploitation or forced labor, or exploiting employment services or activities sending workers abroad under contract to commit unlawful acts, are strictly prohibited under Clause 6, Article 8 of the 2019 Labor Code. Brokering, recruiting, transporting, harboring or transferring people for sexual exploitation is strictly prohibited under Article 3 of the Law on the Prevention and Combat of Human Trafficking.

Đoàn Phú