Progress Amid Resistance

SAUDI ARABIA 435headed by judges with wide discretion to issue rulings according to theirown interpretation of Shari’a. Proposed changes establish a supreme courtthat will, among other tasks, take over the functions of the high judicialcouncil, which currently is composed of ulema, to review capital sentencesand oversee the implementation of Shari’a and royal decrees. Under thenew system, disputes related to divorce and other personal status issues areto be adjudicated in specialized personal status courts, 30 one of the recommendationsfrom the 2004 National Dialogue Conference on Women. 31Another positive initiative, which is receiving some government support, isa web-based grassroots movement (www.saudidivorce.org) whose purposeis to effect change in divorce laws.Slavery in Saudi Arabia was outlawed in 1962, but, like all the othercountries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the kingdom continues to bea known destination for persons trafficked for the purpose of involuntaryservitude. The U.S. State Department’s 2008 Trafficking in Persons Reportindicates that Saudi Arabia has not taken corrective measures to end thepractice. Some people who are voluntarily recruited as domestic workerscontinue to be routinely forced by their employers to remain in the countryas unpaid workers. 32 In its report on compliance with specific articlesof CEDAW, Saudi Arabia denied that such practices exist to any significantdegree. 33 Yet particularly vulnerable to this form of abuse are womenfrom developing countries. Although there are approximately 1.5 milliondomestic workers in Saudi Arabia, they are specifically excluded from theprotections afforded to foreign workers in the current Saudi labor law. 34In July 2009, a bill was passed by the Consultative Council that would, ifaccepted by the cabinet and the king, require employers to provide domesticworkers with adequate rest and accommodations and would limit theirworkday to nine hours. 35Domestic workers rarely complain to police about sexual exploitationor other abuses at the hands of their employers for fear they may facecriminal charges for making false allegations. For instance, Nour Miyati,an Indonesian domestic worker, claimed that she was forced to work longhours without rest or pay and was beaten daily by her employers, resultingin a lost tooth and damaged eye. When she tried to escape, she was lockedup and denied adequate food. At the time of her first hospitalization in2005, she was suffering from malnutrition and gangrene that required theamputation of her toes and fingers. Despite the severity of her injuries,Miyati was convicted of making false accusations against her employers and