Prostitution in Oman

Prostitution in Oman is illegal and 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. Living on the proceeds of prostitution is a crime, punishable by a fine and up to three months imprisonment (criminal code article 221). Additionally, any foreigner who commits an act against "public order or good morals" or who does not have a legal source of income may be deported (law 16 of 1995, articles 31[1] and 31[5]). During the 1990s and early 2000s, young women were trafficked from the former Soviet Union for sex work. In 2005 Oman ratified the International Labour Organisation's 1959 convention prohibiting forced labour. By that time foreign migrant workers made up 60% of Oman's population, and their standard of living was lower than the Omani average (Oman is classified as "medium human development" by the United Nations Development Programme).^[1] Oman has a serious problem of people trafficking involving women and is considered a tier 2 level by the CIA.^[2] Hundreds of Southeast Asian women have been arrested for prostitution, and in November 2016 the issuing of tourist visas to women from Southeast Asia was restricted.^[3]

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