wr2014_web_0

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAThe Ministry of Education announced in May that girls enrolled in privateschools could take part in supervised sports if they wear “decent clothing,” butfailed to announce a promised national strategy to promote sports for girls ingovernment-funded schools.In January, King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the Shura Council andamended the council statute to guarantee representation of women. TheMinistry of Justice granted the first lawyer-trainee license to a woman, Arwa al-Hujaili, in April.Punishment for domestic violence remained lax, but in August the Council ofMinisters issued a new law criminalizing domestic abuse for the first time. Thelaw does not detail enforcement mechanisms to ensure prompt investigationsof abuse allegations or prosecution of those who commit abuses and does notexplicitly criminalize marital rape.Migrant Workers’ RightsOver 9 million migrant workers fill manual, clerical, and service jobs, constitutingmore than half the workforce. Many suffer abuses and exploitation, sometimesamounting to conditions of forced labour or servitude.The kafala (sponsorship) system ties migrant workers’ residency permits to“sponsoring” employers, whose written consent is required for workers tochange employers or exit the country. Some employers illegally confiscatepassports, withhold wages, and force migrants to work against their will.On November 4, following a seven month “grace period” for foreign workers tocorrect their status and documentation, authorities raided businesses and setup checkpoints across the country to apprehend workers without required documentationor not working for their legal sponsors. Interior Minister Mohammedbin Nayef announced in late November that authorities had expelled over60,000 foreign workers in the crackdown’s first three weeks.Some 1.5 million migrant domestic workers remain excluded from the 2005Labor Law, though in July the Council of Ministers passed a new regulation ondomestic work. The law would offer domestic workers certain basic protectionsfor the first time, such as requiring a nine-hour daily break, prompt salary paymentat the end of each month, sick leave, and a one-month paid vacation603