Saudi Arabia

Article 1  

The following terms, wherever they occur herein, shall have the meanings given opposite to each one of them unless otherwise required by the context: 

1. Human Trafficking: It is the use, attachment, transportation, sheltering or receiving of any person with the purpose of exploiting him. 

 Article 2  

It is prohibited to traffic any person in any form whatsoever including coercion, threat, deception, fraud, kidnapping, abuse of power or influence, use of some power over him, exploiting his weakness, giving him financial amounts or privileges or receiving the same to acquire the approval of a person having control over another for the purpose of sexual assault, labour, coercive service, beggaring, enslaving, quasi-enslaving practices, detachment of organs or medical experimentation. 

 Article 3  

Any person who perpetrates human trafficking shall be punished by imprisonment for a period not more than fifteen years or a fine of not more than one million riyals or both. 

 Article 4  

The punishment provided for in this law shall be doubled in the following cases:  

1. If the crime is committed by an organized criminal gang, 
2. If it is committed against a woman or a handicapped person, 
3. If it is committed against a child even if the perpetrator does not know that the victim is a child, 
4. If the perpetrator uses or threatens to use a weapon, 
5. If the perpetrator is a spouse of the victim, his parent, offspring or guardian or if he has control over him, 
6. If the perpetrator is a law enforcement officer, 
7. If it is committed by more than one person, 
8. If the crime is a transnational one, or 9. If the crime results in a serious harm or permanent disability to the victim.

 Article 5  

The victim’s acceptance with regard to any of the crimes provided for herein shall not be taken into consideration. 

 Article 7  

Any person who is aware of committing or a plot to commit any of the crimes provided for herein even if he is in charge of professional confidence or if he obtains any related information or guidelines either directly or indirectly and fails to inform the competent authorities shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than two years and a fine not more than one hundred thousand riyals or both. 

 Article 8  

The same punishment applied against the perpetrator shall be applied to everyone who participates in the human trafficking crime and everyone who interferes in any of the crimes provided for under articles 2, 4 and 6 hereof. 

 Article 10  

Any plot to commit any of the crimes under articles 2, 4 and 6 is punishable by full punishment. 

Saudi Arabia Trafficking in Persons Law-Arabic-PDF.

The Civil Status Code includes a number of discriminatory provisions. For example, only a man may register the birth of his children and obtain their official papers.7 A man is considered the legal head of the household and is responsible for all civil status transactions related to his wife and family, and a married woman is required to take residency in her husband’s home.8 These provisions limit the free movement of women and their general independence. 

 In matters of employment, a guardian’s permission is not required for employment. 

 Within the education system, a guardian’s permission is not required to enroll in schools and universities. 

 Saudi Arabia is the only country in the Gulf region which does not have a codified personal status law. Family affairs in Saudi Arabia are governed by judicial rulings on a case-by-case basis, where judges have wide discretion to interpret and apply Islamic rulings. In personal status disputes, individual judges apply their interpretations of Islamic law according to the Hanbali school of jurisprudence (fiqh).16 In addition a number of directives by state officials govern certain specific matters, such as marriage to foreigners.17 The wide discretion granted to judges creates uncertainty and discrepancies in court rulings, and women are often victims to individual judges’ abuse of this discretion. 

While we acknowledge the recent positive initiative to compile and publish a compendium of judicial decisions, with a section that the State refers to as “the Personal Status Code,”19 it is important to note that the publication of judicial decisions alone does not resolve the issue of lack of clarity and certainty of rules governing personal status matters, especially in the absence of a system of binding precedent of judicial decisions. 

 The male guardianship framework in Saudi Arabia places a woman in the position of a legal minor, regardless of her age. A woman remains under the guardianship of her father until marriage, when her husband becomes her guardian.41 If a woman is divorced or if a guardian passes away, a new male guardian – generally the next male relative in line – is appointed. Guardianship may revert to a woman’s younger brother or son, and it is not uncommon for a widowed mother to seek the permission of her son to travel. 

The guardianship system impacts significantly a woman’s ability to access her rights. Women may be denied opportunities to travel, work, pursue a higher education, access medical procedures, obtain a passport, or even exit a correctional facility or a shelter without her guardian’s approval. Within marriage, the husband is considered the head of the household, with guardianship authority over his wife and children and significant control over her choices. 

 The framework of the marriage system in Saudi Arabia is based on the twin legal concept of male authority (qiwamah) and guardianship (wilayah) over women. This marriage framework is based on reciprocal rights (as opposed to equal rights) between the two spouses, whereby a woman is expected to obey the husband in return for financial maintenance and protection. A woman is placed under the guardianship of her husband upon signature of the marriage contract,79 and is compelled by law to take residency in her husband’s home. 

The inequality in the marriage framework is particularly severe in Saudi Arabia because the male guardianship system is deeply rooted and extremely restrictive in practice, and results in women being controlled by their husbands in almost all aspects of their lives. 

A husband can prevent his wife from work, education, availing health services, and even from leaving the house.81 A husband can also file a complaint in court on the basis of disobedience, and as a result a woman may be denied financial support until she returns to the marital home.82 A woman may stipulate conditions in the marriage contract to secure certain rights, such as education or work, but there is no penalty if the husband breaches a condition except by a judge’s discretion. Court cases are often lengthy, with uncertain outcomes. 

 Consent of both the bride and groom are required for marriage. A marriage officer is required to obtain the bride’s consent and the consent of her male guardian, regardless of her age. Generally, a woman’s consent is given orally before the marriage officer and both the woman and guardian are required to sign the contract. In 2016, the Ministry of Justice issued a directive stating that women must receive a copy of the marriage contact.84 

 (I) Withholding of Permission (Adhl) 

In cases where the consent of the prospective bride’s guardian cannot be secured, she is permitted to file a court case against her guardian for adhl (unreasonably withholding permission for marriage). 

In such cases, a judge may assign another male relative of the woman to act as her guardian for purposes of officiating the marriage, or alternatively permits the marriage to take place if he deems the withholding of permission to be unreasonable. 

In practice, however, Saudi judges regularly accept a broad set of grounds as valid objections to a marriage, including the groom’s lineage, religiosity, morality and reputation, nationality, among others. It is therefore difficult for a woman to win an adhl case in Saudi courts. In many instances, resorting to court can result in punishing a woman for disobedience.85 

(II) Restrictions on a Woman’s Ability to Marry a Foreigner 

The limited capacity of a woman to enter into marriage freely is illustrated by the rules restricting a Saudi woman’s capacity to marry a foreigner. Marriage to a foreigner – whether by a Saudi man or woman – requires special permission by the Ministry of Interior.86 For women specifically, this permission may only be issued if her guardian consents.87 A woman cannot bring an adhl case if the prospective husband is a foreigner.88 

(III) Forced Annulment of Marriages 

A woman’s guardian may bring a court case objecting to a marriage, even after consummation of the marriage and birth of children. Local media have reported several cases where judges have annulled marriages on the basis of “tribal” incompatibility based on petitions of women’s guardians.89 As Saudi Arabia has no codified regulation on marriage compatibility, these cases are left to judges’ discretion, regardless of the wife’s opinion on the matter.90 Courts in Saudi Arabia issued annulment of 16 marriages in 2015 based on incompatibility in tribal lineage, in many cases against the wife’s will.91 

(IV) Forced Marriages 

Forced marriage is not permitted in Saudi Arabia, and the country’s highest religious scholar (Grand Mufti) Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh declared forced marriages “a major injustice.”92 Yet in practice male guardianship renders women vulnerable to abuse and forced marriage.93 

While the consent of the woman is required, in practice marriage officers rarely ask a woman to show her face to ensure she is the person whose identification card is presented, making it easy to falsify consent by a guardian. 

Once a forced marriage is conducted, it is extremely difficult to annul the forced marriages due to an extremely high burden of proof that must be met for a woman to prove absence of consent; for example, a woman must show evidence that she did not attend the wedding ceremony or did not allow the husband to consummate the marriage.95 There is no legislation to criminalize forced marriages, nor is there a mechanism to sanction marriage officers who conduct a marriage without a bride’s consent. 

 Saudi Arabia acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1996, yet there is no legal minimum age for marriage in Saudi Arabia to date.96 Young girls in particular are vulnerable to exploitation and child marriage. According to a media report, there were 5,622 marriages involving child brides under the age of 14 in Saudi Arabia in 2012.97 

The implementing regulation of the Law on Child Protection states that “before contracting a marriage, it is mandatory to ensure that marrying a person below 18 years of age would not result in harm to the person and would achieve his best interest, whether a male or a female.”98 Such marriages must be approved by an advisory committee consisting of a group of psychology and health specialists who conduct an examination of each case individually, and interview any girl below 18 in private.99 However, the conditions or standards used to determine “harm” or “interests” of a minor are unclear and not specified in the law. According to local advocates, minors are often not interviewed as officials treat this process as optional and advisory in nature.100 The problem is compounded by statements of prominent clerics in support of child marriage. For example, in 2009, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, declared that girls as young as 10 years old were marriageable.101 

Nonetheless, it appears that Saudi Arabia is currently considering setting a marriage age of 16 for both sexes, and that this proposal has received support by a majority of Shura Council members most recently in January 2018.102 While consideration of this matter is a positive development, we urge the State Party to pass legislation prohibiting marriage before reaching the age of 18, in line with its international commitments. 

 The Law does not criminalize marital rape, nor does it criminalize other acts of abuse, such as deprivation of liberty or restriction of a woman’s right to pursue an education or employment. Moreover, it refers to certain acceptable “bounds” of guardianship, authority, or responsibility that may not be overstepped, without specifying what these are, leaving room for abuse and discretion in enforcement.