Several expat women from various African and Asian nationalities are now facing legal action in Oman after being detained in the capital region on morality-related charges, according to authorities.
The Royal Oman Police (ROP) said officers from the Muscat Governorate Police Command carried out the arrests, citing offenses that included dressing in a way regarded as offensive to public morals, along with violations of the country’s labor and residency regulations. Cases against the detained women are currently moving through the legal system.
Oman’s Penal Code, enacted through Royal Decree No. 7/2018, addresses such conduct directly. Article 294(a) states that anyone who appears in public in a manner deemed indecent or at odds with the nation’s customs and traditions may face one to three months behind bars, a penalty of 100 to 300 Omani rials, or both.
The ROP withheld the total number of women taken into custody and offered no additional information about the specific circumstances surrounding the alleged violations.
Beyond police-initiated action, Omani law grants ordinary residents the ability to alert authorities when they suspect that such offenses have taken place.
