Prostitution in Papua New Guinea is generally regarded as illegal but widely practiced with the laws rarely enforced.
Foreign and local women and children are subjected to sex trafficking, including near logging, mining, and palm oil sites.
Within the country, children and women from rural areas are deceived, often by relatives, with promises of legitimate work or education to travel to different provinces where they are subjected to sex trafficking.
NGOs report some parents receive money from traffickers who exploited their teenage daughters in prostitution, including near mining and logging sites.
Children, including girls as young as 5 years old from remote rural areas, are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking by members of their immediate family or tribe.
In urban areas, parents reportedly exploit their children in sex trafficking directly or in brothels as a means to support their families or to pay for school fees.
Malaysian and Chinese logging companies arrange for some foreign women to enter the country voluntarily with fraudulently issued tourist or business visas.
After their arrival, many of these women, from countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines, are turned over to traffickers who transport them to logging and mining camps, fisheries, and entertainment sites, and exploit them in forced prostitution.