14 Mar 2008

PNG's Madang province faced with child prostitution

2:34 pm on 14 March 2008

School children in Papua New Guinea's Madang Province are turning to prostitution and other illicit activities to raise funds for school fees.

The newspaper, Post Courier, says this was revealed in a recent survey conducted by the Madang Provincial AIDS Committee.

Joe Mocke of the Committee said children who were selling themselves for sex and homebrew to raise school fees were mostly those who were marginalised.

Mr Mocke said the survey showed prostitution to be the fastest growing industry in Madang.

He said young girls were highly sought after by those willing to pay, mostly older men.

Joe Mocke said the survey found that those likely to turn to these illicit activities were children who were brought to town from the village.

Meanwhile, Nancy Sullivan, an anthropologist and researcher, said the findings were saddening and she urged politicians to look at providing it not free education, then a subsidy so that children would not have to continue this kind of behaviour.