Kenyan mother in Saudi Arabia receives 100 lashes for giving birth out of wedlock

Esther Wanja Muthoni, a Kenyan migrant worker employed as a housekeeper and nanny in Saudi Arabia, was sentenced to 100 lashes last month after giving birth following a brief relationship. The case came to public attention because hospitals in the country are mandated to report single women who give birth to the authorities. Human rights organisations have condemned the ruling as an act of violence and pointed to the case as evidence of the hypocrisy surrounding purported judicial reforms in the kingdom. While Saudi Arabia announced a reform in 2020 to end flogging for certain discretionary crimes, corporal punishment remains a legally possible penalty for specific offenses under Islamic law.