By Mike Puia
THE Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) is taking the lead in re-looking into the issue of prostitution among Honiara local girls.
Prostitution is illegal in the country but some local girls are practising it in an ad hoc basis.
Some of these girls are harboured at the Honiara Botanic Garden, a spot in the city where one can enjoy a series of pleasant woodland trails through ecological treasure.
Now, the Botanical Garden has become known for sheltering girls who avail themselves to get paid to provide sex to men. They are often referred to as solfish.
RSIPF’s Director of National Prevention Centre, Solomon Sisimia, said they are bringing about 20 stakeholders to a consultation meeting to look at how this issue can be addressed.
The meeting is set for March 29.
“This is the first time we want to seriously look into this issue,” Mr Sisimia said.
He said the meeting is to draw ideas from different stakeholders on what needs to be done to address the issue and to find a common ground for all that will involve in dealing with the issue.
Sisimia said during this meeting the RSIPF and stakeholders will identify which stakeholder will take on the issue.
He said the issue is overdue and they expect which ever group identified after the meeting to take on this issue as far as checking on the girls’ families.
“We want to see which ever group that will take up this issue to talk to families of these girls and find out why these girls acted like this,” Sisimia said.
He said police is leading the facilitation of the upcoming meeting but non-government organisations and churches will take the lead in doing the actual work.
Stakeholders that are expected to attend the meeting include; Christian Care Centre (CCC), Family Support Centre (FSC), Seif Ples, government Ministries like the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children & Family Affairs (MWYCFA), Ministry of Commence, Industries, Labour & Immigration (MCILI), Ministry of Forest & Research (MoFR), churches and non-government organisations like Save the Children Australia (SCA), World Vision Solomon Islands (WVSI) and others.
This initiative is supported by the Solomon Islands Police Support Programme (SIPSP) and the Solomon Islands Development Programme (SIDP). SIPSP is supported by the New Zealand government while the SIDP is supported by the Australian government.
