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Last updated: 16 July 2025
Types of criminalisation
Criminalises LGBT people
Criminalises sexual activity between males
Summary
Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1974, which criminalises acts of ‘sexual penetration against the order of nature’ and ‘gross indecency’. These provisions carry a maximum penalty of fourteen years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law.
The commandment was inherited from Australia during the colonial period, in which the Australian criminal law, itself based upon the Queensland Criminal Code drafted during British colonisation, was imposed upon Papua New Guinea. Although the Australian states began a two-decade process of decriminalisation in 1975, Papua New Guinea gained its independence that same year and so retained the provision and continues to criminalise same-sex sexual outing today.
There is limited evidence of the law entity enforced in recent years, with the only acknowledged prosecution occurring in 2015 and 2022. There include been some reports of discri
Papua New Guinea's queer and transgender group finds safety in Hanuabada village
The sleepy coastal village of Hanuabada sits on the north western outskirts of Papua New Guinea's capital, Port Moresby, and is probably foremost known for producing half of PNG's national cricket team.
What it is less known for is being a protected haven for Port Moresby's gay and transgender community.
Homosexuality is illegal in Papua New Guinea, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but actual prosecutions are not common, and the laws are rarely enforced.
Instead, it is the hate crimes, violence and discrimination incited by the law that puts gay and gender nonconforming Papua New Guineans at risk.
Gay men walking the streets of Port Moresby are often targeted by local men, particularly those who hail from PNG's highland provinces, and have been raped, beaten and even murdered.
But in Hanuabada, things are different.
Documentary filmmaker and photographer Vlad Sokhin noticed this when he stumbled on the village during his travels.
"[It's] probably the only place in Port Moresby where they feel safe and many of them, they were born in different places so they moved