Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LBTI) rights are not recognised within Papua New Guinea. Consensual male same-sex sexual activity is criminalised as an ‘Unnatural Offence’ in the Criminal Code Act 1974, Section 210. In this section, male same-sex activity is criminalised alongside bestiality.
Trans people do not have legal recognition of their rights within the State party, and there is no legal policy framework for the rights of intersex people.
<The Last State party report was submitted in 2010 and contained no LBTI-specific information.
The CEDAW Committee has not provided any SOGIESC-focused recommendations to Papua New Guinea. The Concluding Observations did not have any observations towards the situation of LBTI rights in the State party. The List of Issues also does not contain LBTI-inclusive questions.
The CEDAW Committee provided a few general recommendations to all women under the Convention which can be read to include LBTI people. The Committee recommended to the State party to prepare and adopt a legislative framework on trafficking in human beings, including the prevention of trafficking, the timely prosecution, and punishment of traffickers, the provision of protection from traffickers/agents, and quality support and programmes for victims.
They were also concerned about the brutal torture and killings of women and girls, especially old women, accused of witchcraft, and how there is very little effort to investigate, and a lack of information around these deaths. The Committee was also concerned about how only a fraction of the population has their births registered and how this may impact the legal status of women. Lastly, the Committee noted that the State party has planned to establish a social protection policy framework for certain disadvantaged groups.