ABSTRACT:

“The severity and scope of human trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation has been grossly understudied until this past decade. Reliable information on how and why trafficking in persons occurs is scarce, especially for the Middle East. Saudi Arabia’s notorious policies of discrimination against women serve as the starting point. In Saudi Arabia, the monarchy has co-opted the traditional roles of women as an emblem of its own Islamic character, thereby making it a symbol of its national heritage. An entrenched institution of patriarchy uses gender construction as an instrument of state policy and state security. This intimate relationship between gender roles and national identity demonstrates that the exploitation of women through misyar marriage stems primarily from the cultural and political emphasis on preserving a unified Islamic nation. The purpose of this analysis is to investigate the practice of misyar or temporary marriages by wealthy Gulf men as a form of human trafficking.”