The head of Papua New Guinea's Sexual Offence Squad says only half of the officers staffing the police family and sexual violence units have received the proper training.
The comment follows Australia's announcement of 400-thousand US dollars' worth of funding for four new units, adding to the six that were set up two years ago with Aus-aid money.
Although Detective Senior Sergeant Tinol Pakiapon describes the units as a success story for women in his country he says the lack of trained staff is stopping them from being fully effective.
"Training is one area that is really lacking in this area of work in this country, especially within the police because police men and women must be first be sensitised and know how to deal with such complaints and most of our men and women are not trained."
Detective Senior Sergeant Tinol Pakiapon says the need for police officers who are trained to interview children is even more pressing.
