The 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report by the United States Government highlights the increased risks of Fijian children being exploited in commercial sex and forced labor.
Traffickers in Fiji exploit victims in commercial sex establishments, hotels, private homes, and massage parlors, and sometimes use websites and cell phone applications to facilitate their exploitation.
Traffickers in Fiji include family members, taxi drivers, foreign tourists, businessmen, and crew members on foreign fishing vessels.
According to the report, traffickers exploit Fijian and People’s Republic of China (PRC) national women and children in PRC national-operated massage parlors and commercial sex establishments, particularly in Suva.
Some Fijian children are at risk of sex and labor trafficking due to traditional practices of sending them to live with relatives or families in larger cities, where they may be exploited in domestic servitude or sex trafficking in exchange for food, clothing, shelter, or school fees.
Foreign yacht owners and foreigners hiring locally owned yachts dock in rural Fijian islands and seek young women, usually children, for marriage, which can lead to forced labor or sex trafficking.
