Sex trafficking is a problem in Oman. Historically, prostitution was connected to slavery in Oman. The Islamic Law formally prohibited prostitution.
However, since the principle of concubinage in Islam in Islamic Law allowed a man to have sexual intercourse with his female slave, prostitution in the Islamic world was commonly practiced by a pimp selling his female slave on the slave market to a client, who was then allowed to have sex with her as her new owner; the client would then cancel his purchase and return the slave to her pimp on the pretext of discontent, which was a legal and accepted method for prostitution in the Islamic world.
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.
