Legality of prostitution in Oceania

Table

Country/Territory	Prostitution	Legal Age for solicitation	Brothels	Pimping	Notes
American Samoa	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	No federal laws, prostitution is regulated by the territory.
Australia	Legal	18	varies by jurisdiction	varies by jurisdcition	Federal law states that all prostitutes must be 18 or older.
Baker Island	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Fiji	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
French Polynesia	Legal	18	Illegal	Illegal
Guam	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	No federal laws, prostitution is regulated by the territory.
Hawaii	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	No federal laws, prostitution is regulated by the state.
Howland Island	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Jarvis Island	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Kingman Reef	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Kiribati	Legal	18	Illegal	Illegal
Marshall Islands	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
Federated States of Micronesia	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
Midway Atoll	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
New Caledonia	Legal	18	Illegal	Illegal
New Zealand	Legal	18	18	Legal	Federal law states that all prostitutes must be 18 or older.
Northern Mariana Islands	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	No federal laws, prostitution is regulated by the territory.
Palau	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
Palmyra Atoll	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Papua New Guinea	Illegal but not enforced	Illegal but not enforced	Illegal but not enforced	Illegal but not enforced	Prostitution is widely practiced
Samoa	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
Wake Island	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	No stated law	Outside the Mann Act, there are no written laws on prostitution.
Wallis and Futuna	Legal	18	Illegal	Illegal

Australia

Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably; and Federal legislation also has an impact on some aspects of prostitution throughout Australia, and of Australian citizens and residents outside of the country.

Federated States of Micronesia

Prostitution is illegal, but a major problem. The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) is a source country for women subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution in the United States and the U.S. territory of Guam, and has reportedly been a destination for women from China forced into commercial sexual exploitation. The FSM may be a destination country for a few men and women from other Pacific nations who are subjected to conditions of forced labor. Micronesian sex trafficking victims from the state of Chuuk have been identified in Guam and the United States. In one case still before the courts in Guam, 10 young women from the state of Chuuk were lured to Guam by a Micronesian recruiter with promises of well-paying jobs in the service and hospitality sectors. Upon arrival in Guam, the women were forced to engage in prostitution.

The punishment for prostitution includes up to 10 years in prison, and/or a fine of up to US$20,000. However, some states impose even harsher laws for prostitution.^[1]

Marshall Islands

Prostitution in the Marshall Islands is illegal. Victims of trafficking are protected under law.^[2]

New Zealand

Prostitution (sex work), brothel keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution and street solicitation are legal in New Zealand. Coercion of sex workers is illegal.^[3]

Palau

Prostitution is illegal in Palau, although it's a major problem.^[4]

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men are forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, are most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sell girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage are often forced into domestic servitude for the husband’s extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families are prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines are subjected to forced prostitution and men from China are transported to the country for forced labor.

References

1. "FSM trafficking report". state.gov.
2. "Marshall Islands trafficking report". state.gov.
3. Section 16, Prostitution Reform Act 2003.
4. "Palau". state.gov.

External links