CHILDREN as young as 12 years old are being pushed into sex work, according to the US 2025 Trafficking in Persons report, which was launched earlier this week.
The report said “some Fijian children are at risk of sex and labour trafficking, including domestic servitude”.
The report highlighted a disturbing trend of traffickers — including relatives, taxi drivers, foreign tourists, and business operators — targeting Fijian children for sex and labour exploitation.
“Children as young as 12 are exploited in sex trafficking, sometimes by family members to purchase food and other essentials for their families,” the report said.
“Foreign yacht owners and foreigners hiring locally-owned yachts dock in rural Fijian islands and seek young women, usually children, for marriage; some of these women and children subsequently become exploited in forced labour or sex trafficking.
“Taxi drivers or other facilitators transport Fijian child sex trafficking victims to hotels in popular tourist areas or to private yachts at the request of foreign tourists seeking commercial sex acts.”
The report said children were also increasingly at risk of being forced into criminal activity, including the sale of illicit drugs, while poverty, natural disasters, and school dropouts made them more vulnerable.
“Rising levels of poverty, often resulting in increased school drop-out rates, also contribute to increased risks of perpetrators exploiting Fijian children in commercial sex and forced labour.
“Natural disasters and climate-induced displacement significantly increase Fijians’ vulnerability to trafficking because of loss of livelihood and shelter.
“The economic crisis related to the pandemic, as well as recent natural disasters, increased the number of children who were driven to use the streets as a source of livelihood or compelled to seek incomes to sustain their families; these children are at risk of being exploited in sex trafficking or forced labour.”
The report specified that while Fiji’s laws prescribe up to 25 years imprisonment for child trafficking crimes, there were no convictions recorded in the past year.
It also pointed to gaps in proactive investigations into commercial child sexual exploitation, especially in the tourism sector. Questions have been sent to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection.
