Victoria Parade in downtown Suva is a magnet for sex workers and their clients. Photo courtesy of Wansolwara, and the USP. This feature report was first published in Wansolwara, and was researched, analysed, and written by final year journalism students at the University of South Pacific in Suva. It looks at attempts to control the sex industry in the Pacific.
The journalists found the trade has survived harsh economic conditions and continues to prosper despite its illegality in Pacific island countries. Prostitution is a problem causing major concerns across the Pacific. Various research reports have been published, detailing the seriousness of the issue. Across the region, poverty, unemployment and low wages are driving sex work. Prostitution is illegal in virtually all Pacific Island countries. But this has not stopped it from growing.
Some Pacific Island countries have realised that existing legislation to control the problem is inadequate so they have revamped their laws. Last year, Fiji introduced stronger anti-prostitution laws while the Solomon Islands broadened its laws. With reports and surveys revealing that family members, including parents, were forcing underage girls to have sex with strangers in exchange for money, governments felt compelled to act.
Dame Kidu said there was an increase in child prostitution and men-with-men sex homosexuality in Port Moresby nightclubs. She added that some parents were forcing their children into prostitution. In , Kiribati temporarily banned all Korean fishing boats from entering Kiribati ports after reports in the Korean Herald that 30 to 50 girls, mostly underage, were servicing the Korean fishermen. A former Solomon Islands police superintendent, David Diosi, told Wansolwara that prostitution in the country had hit an all-time high.
The report focused on Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Vanuatu as countries where young girls were subjected to various forms of violence, including high rates of commercial sexual exploitation. These girls are in turn drawn into the sex industry by relatives. Across the world, including in our region, many attempts have been made to stop or control prostitution. All have failed. Experts say this is because anti-prostitution laws do not necessarily eliminate demand. And the laws of economics say that where there is demand there is supply.
