Sex trafficking is a problem in Oman. Only sex within a legalized marriage is permitted. Women's sex outside legal marriage is criminalised as zina illegal sex , adultery , fornication. It is women, and not their clients, who are legally penalised for sex work which carries a jail sentence between three and five years. Police crackdowns are frequent.
Hundreds of Southeast Asian women have been arrested for prostitution, and in November the issuing of tourist visas to women from Southeast Asia was restricted. In the 3 years prior to August , people were arrested for prostitution and all received a minimum of 3 years jail sentence.
Oman is a destination and transit country for women, primarily from South and East Asia and East and North Africa, subjected to sex trafficking, often by nationals of their own countries. There have been anecdotal reports that female domestic workers from countries without a diplomatic presence in Oman are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking.
Domestic workers who flee their employers are also vulnerable to forced prostitution. During the s and early s, young women were trafficked from the former Soviet Union for sex work.
In Oman ratified the International Labour Organization 's convention prohibiting forced labour. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 January Department of State. Archived from the original on 3 July This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. The National. Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex Work.
