My great grandfather was a horrible gambler. He was always losing money. In order to pay it back he "lent" out his daughters, he had 5 of them. They would do "wife" duties for the men who he owed money. It could be anything from making dinner, cleaning the house or having sex. I dont know for sure when it started but it ended when my grandmother was 8 and she was the youngest, the oldest was 17.