Combatting Human Trafficking in Saudi Arabia

Background: Trafficking in human beings is a crime that violates human rights. Recent years have witnessed an increase in human trafficking for the purpose of commercial sex exploitation, forced labour, and beggary, to name but a few. Globalisation and advanced technology have been exploited by perpetrators of trafficking in human beings. This phenomenon is becoming more difficult to discover and investigate due to its nature and complexity. The purpose of this research is to explore the legal response to the crime of trafficking in human beings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This research uses a combination of primary and secondary resources such as the assigned laws, caselaw, academic books, journal articles, and reliable websites. Results and Conclusions: After working out that this crime falls within the scope of Ta’zer Crimes but not Hudud and Qisas crimes, the paper examines the efficiency of the Saudi Anti-Trafficking in Persons Law 2009 from two aspects, the effectiveness of penalties imposed on the human traffickers and the feasibility of protective measures provided in the law for safeguarding the trafficked person (victims). Finally, the study concludes with some findings and recommendations.