IllicitEncounters is the UK’s longest running extra-marital dating site. Started in 2003,  as a small agency with  a handful of members, it has grown at a phenomenal rate.

The average  member is a professional, often working in management or an executive  between the ages of 36 and 40. And the site  boasts the most balanced ratio of men to women online than any other dating site.
 
The site aim is to create a safe, nonjudgmental environment, where married men and women can meet each other.The profile-based website, allows each member a personalised space stating who they are, what they’re looking for and their interests. Users can talk freely on a newly-improved chat system, or send each messages through the site's internal mailing system.

"We were originally quite shocked that there were so many IE members based in the Western Isles, considering how religious the area is", says Sara Hartley, site representative.  "However, couples in that area may feel more pressured to solidify their relationship early on, for religious reasons, rather than take longer to get to know their partner.  This would, in turn, increases the chance that they will be trapped in marriage later on."

"In England and Wales, we saw that the more built-up areas - cities and large towns - had a larger number of members.  We put this down to the fact that, in the those areas, people were less governed by tradition and happier to pursue a more selfish lifestyle."

"It seems however, that the opposite is also true.  When an area is bound by more traditional values, the amount of pressure to conform to the ideal may end up being the thing which, in the end, causes a spouse to become unfaithful."



The site now receives around 350 new members each day.