Kenyan domestic worker sentenced to 100 lashes for out-of-wedlock birth

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 11 Nov, 18:33 · Archive

A Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage.

Esther Wanja Muthoni, a 40-year-old Kenyan domestic worker in Saudi Arabia, has been sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage. The ruling was issued last month. Muthoni was employed as a housekeeper and nanny for a family in Saudi Arabia when she became pregnant during a brief relationship with an Egyptian man, who has since left the country. She has been attempting to return to Kenya with her one-year-old son for more than a year but has been blocked at every turn.

Under Saudi sharia law, sex outside marriage is a criminal offence. The case came to light when Muthoni was taken to hospital during labour; hospitals in Saudi Arabia are required to report single women giving birth to authorities. She was then detained and questioned by police. Under Saudi law, lashing is administered with a person seated and clothed, struck across the body with a bamboo stick.

Rights groups have condemned the sentence. Maryam Aldossari, acting director of the UK-based ALQST organisation, said the punishment is an act of violence and that Muthoni should be allowed to return home. Ekaterina Porras Sivolobova, founder of Do Bold, a non-profit advocating for migrant workers' rights in the Gulf, noted that most unmarried women give birth at home and are not reported, suggesting Muthoni's case is only visible because of hospital involvement.

Muthoni told the New York Times in a recent interview: 'I am so afraid. I don't think I can endure those lashes.' She added: 'I don't deserve this.' The case reflects broader dangers facing East African domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. According to a New York Times investigation, hundreds of Kenyan women have been killed, with reports of rape and beatings common among migrant workers.

The UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, had planned to visit Saudi Arabia to raise specific cases but the visit was postponed last week. Children of unwed mothers are regularly denied birth certificates in Saudi Arabia, and Kenyan diplomats responsible for issuing them and helping mothers and children return home have been reported to ignore them, insult them and solicit bribes.

How it is being reported

• Woman sentenced to 100 lashes for giving birth outside marriage in Saudi ArabiaThe Kenyan domestic worker continues to live in fear of when her sentence will be carried out in Riyadh (Picture: Getty Images) A woman who gave birth outside marriage was sentenced to 100 lashes in Saudi Arabia after being reported to the authorities. Women’s rights campaigners have raised the…Metro · 11 Nov, 14:49
• Kenyan mother sentenced to 100 lashes in Saudi Arabia for giving birth outside of marriageEsther Wanja Muthoni, a Kenyan national, was employed as a housekeeper for a familyIndependent World · 11 Nov, 11:40
• Woman in Saudi Arabia sentenced to 100 lashes for giving birth outside marriageRights groups condemn reported punishment of Kenyan migrant worker as an ‘act of violence’ A Kenyan mother in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been sentenced to 100 lashes after giving birth outside marriage. Under the Saudi sharia law system, sex outside marriage is a criminal offence. But it is women who are disproportionately targeted, say rights groups, which have condemned the punishment as an “act of violence”. Continue reading...The Guardian · 11 Nov, 06:00
• Saudi court sentences Kenyan domestic worker to 100 lashes for giving birth outside of marriageSaudi Arabia has sentenced a domestic worker from Kenya to 100 lashes after she gave birth outside of marriage.Daily Mail · 10 Nov, 15:10

In this story: Esther Wanja Muthoni · Saudi Arabia · Kenya · ALQST · Do Bold · Riyadh

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