SUVA (FIJI TIMES) — Children as young as 12 years old in Fiji were being exploited in sex trafficking, according to the Annual United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report released last week.
“Observers reported a practice where taxi drivers transported Fijian child sex trafficking victims to hotels in popular tourist areas at the request of foreign tourists seeking commercial sex acts,” the document stated.
“Traffickers exploit victims in illegal brothels, local hotels, private homes, and massage parlours.”
The report claimed that some Fijian children faced the risk of sex and labour trafficking from within their own families.
“Families follow a traditional practice of sending them to live with relatives or families in larger cities, where they may be subjected to domestic servitude or coerced to engage in sexual activity in exchange for food, clothing, shelter, or school fees.”
Questions sent to the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Immigration, and the Fiji Police Force last Friday remain unanswered.
The Department of Social Welfare has also not responded to queries on the contents of the report…. PACNEWS