Prostitution in Papua New Guinea The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Papua New Guinea as a "Tier 3" country. Prostitution in Papua New Guinea Prostitution Papua New Guinea is generally illegal but widely practised and the laws rarely enforced. Prostitution occurs on the streets, in bars, brothels and in logging, mining, and palm oil areas. In 2010 it was estimated there were 2.000 prostitutes in the capital, Port Moresby. The draught in 2016 caused a rise in prostitution. Many of the women have turned to sex work due to poverty or unemployment. HIV, sex trafficking and
Territory of Papua and New Guinea de Menezes came upon the principal island "Papua". In 1545, the Spaniard Iñigo Ortiz de Retes gave the island the name "New Guinea" because of what he saw as a resemblance between the islands' inhabitants and those found on the African Guinea coast. Knowledge of the interior of the island remained scant for several centuries after these initial European encounters. In 1884, Germany formally took possession of the northeast quarter of the island and it became known as German New Guinea. In 1884, a British protectorate was proclaimed over Papua – the southern coast of New Guinea. The protectorate, called