Summary:

Recent legislative and policy advancements in Oman have resulted in the establishment of a discriminatory system against transgender individuals at the national level. In 2018, the implementation of the Omani Penal Code introduced explicit and implicit criminalization of transgender expression and identity, thereby infringing upon the fundamental human rights of transgender individuals in Oman. Following this, in 2019, the Sultanate issued Royal Decree No. 75, which addresses the Law Governing the Practice of the Medical Profession and Allied Health Professions. This decree explicitly prohibits healthcare practitioners from providing any form of gender-affirming medical care exclusively to transgender individuals. Furthermore, the ability to legally recognize gender identity remains severely limited, if at all possible.

Criminalization:

Explicit: Oman’s Penal Law has an extensive body of text describing the explicit and de-facto criminalization of transgender identity under Chapter 3 of the Omani Penal Law. Additionally, Cyber Crime laws have been used to punish queer and transgender expression online and can exacerbate penalties when compounded with other morality-related charges.

• Article 265 of Chapter 3 ‘Indecent Acts,’ Part 7 ‘Offences Against Public Morality,’ of Oman’s Penal Law Promulgated by the Royal Decree 7/2018:

“Whoever publicly commits or utters an indecent act or statement shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than (10) ten days and not exceeding (3) three months, and a fine no less (100) one hundred Rial Omani and not exceeding (300) three hundred Rial Omani, or one of those two punishments.”

• Section C & D, Article 266 of Chapter 3 ‘Indecent Acts,’ Part 7 ‘Offences Against Public Morality,’ of Oman’s Penal Law Promulgated by the Royal Decree 7/2018:

“Every male who commits the following shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than a month and not exceeding a year, and a fine no less than (100) one hundred Rial Omani and not exceeding (300) three hundred Rial Omani, or one of those two punishments:

1. whoever impersonates a woman or enters, disguised, a venue dedicated to women or a venue whose entry is forbidden to non-women at the time.
2. whoever publicly appears in the likeness of women in his dress or guise.”

• Article 267 of Chapter 3 ‘Indecent Acts,’ Part 7 ‘Offences Against Public Morality,’ of Oman’s Penal Law Promulgated by the Royal Decree 7/2018:

“Whoever creates, distributes, publishes, or displays, even if not done in public, a book, a publication, drawings, photographs, films, symbols, or other effects offending modesty or violating public morals, shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than (10) ten days and not exceeding a year, and a fine no less than (100) one hundred Rial Omani and not exceeding (300) three hundred Rial Omani, or one of those two punishments.”

• Article 268 of Chapter 3 ‘Indecent Acts,’ Part 7 ‘Offences Against Public Morality,’ of Oman’s Penal Law Promulgated by the Royal Decree 7/2018:

“Whoever uses wired or wireless communication devices, or electronic media, statements, photographs, applications, or any other means, to communicate statements, photographs, or applications contrary to public morals or ethics shall be punished by imprisonment for a period no less than (10) ten days and not exceeding a month, and a fine no less than (100) one hundred Rial Omani and not exceeding (300) three hundred Rial Omani, or one of those two punishment.”

In parallel, under the Cyber Crime Law of 2011, engaging in what the state deems immoral behavior online is considered a punishable offense. The text of the upcoming legal articles is vague and “violating public ethics” can be used to describe a wide range of activities, including posting or viewing information online pertaining to queer and transgender issues.

• Article (17) of the Royal Decree No 12/2011 Issuing the Cyber Crime Law:

“The penalty with imprisonment for a period not less than one month and not exceeding three years and a fine not less than OMR one hundred and not exceeding OMR three thousands or by either penalty, shall be applied to any person who uses the informational network or the information technology facilities in gambling or to produce or publish or distribute or purchase or possess, whatsoever might prejudice 8 or violate the public ethics or promoting programs or concepts or activities liable to cause the same.”

• Article 31 of the Royal Decree No 12/2011 Issuing the Cyber Crime Law:

“Whoever abets or assists others or agrees with them to commit a cybercrime shall be punished with the same penalty prescribed for the offender. If the criminal result is not ascertained, then the accomplice shall receive half the maximum punishment legally specified for the crime.”

Enforcement:

The Sultanate of Oman has a long history of suppressing freedom of speech and the press, both online and offline, particularly when it involves actions that offend the dignity of the state or violate public order. Consequently, information regarding the arrest of transgender individuals is severely limited beyond what the State chooses to disclose.

• On January 27, 2018, the Royal Omani Police announced via Twitter that they had arrested several transgender women after they shared photographs and videos from a private gathering. On February 15, the court found the four individuals guilty on charges related to engaging in immoral behavior, as outlined in Article 265 of the Penal Code, imitating the opposite sex as stipulated in Article 266 (d) of the Penal Code, producing or disseminating material that contravenes public morals under Article 17 of the Cyber Crime Law of 2011, and aiding in the production or dissemination of materials that violate public morals under Article 31 of the Cyber Crime Law. Consequently, the women were sentenced to three years of imprisonment, a fine of 3,000 Omani Riyals (approximately $7,800 USD), a month of cleaning streets for four hours daily, and one of the defendants had her phone confiscated by the court and her social media accounts indefinitely suspended as part of the punishment.
• The only other publicly available information regarding the enforcement of laws criminalizing transgender identity involves the arrest of an expatriate transgender woman on March 11, 2018, for being present in a park during a “women’s only” day.

Legal Gender Recognition: 

Name Change:

Changing one’s legal name on one’s National Identification Document is technically possible in Oman after sending a request to the Director General of Civil Status. However, the request may be rejected if names are perceived as too gender non-conforming given the social and legal conditions of transgender people in Oman.

Gender Marker Change :

Changing one’s legal gender marker is not possible in Oman. Outside of a lack of legal framework tackling legal gender recognition, laws regulating transgender identity, expression, and obstructing medical transition heavily restrict any possibility for accessing the appropriate legal identification document.

Case law in Legal Gender Recognition:

There is no data available about this procedure being employed by Oman. As such, changing your legal gender marker is not possible.

Gender Affirming Healthcare: 

Restricted, Explicit criminalization: The decree explicitly prohibits transgender individuals from seeking out gender-affirming healthcare with the exception for intersex healthcare. Even then, an intersex person seeking out gender-affirming healthcare would have to request the permission of the state and be examined by a team of physicians.

• Article 32 of Royal Decree No. 75 (2019) Promulgating the Law Governing the Practice of the Medical Profession and Allied Health Professions

“Medical practitioners and licensed healthcare professionals are prohibited from providing any medical treatment or procedures that result in the transition from male to female or vice versa for individuals possessing fully developed male or female reproductive organs. The only exception to this prohibition is if a committee, established by the Minister specifically for this purpose, makes a decision. The committee must consist of three doctors, with one of them being an expert in the field of endocrinology.”

Fatwas:

While the Grand Mufti of Oman has publicly expressed disapproval for queer people, he has not released any fatwas explicitly banning gender transition. However, as the country follows Sunni Islam, the fatwas issued by esteemed Sunni authorities such as Al-Azhar in Egypt and the Islamic Fiqh Council in Saudi Arabia are considered applicable. These fatwas prohibit transgender individuals from seeking gender-affirming healthcare and restrict sex reassignment surgeries to intersex individuals only.