The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Pacific, Matilda Bogner, says Papua New Guinea still has a lot of work to do to improve human rights.
She has praised PNG for making commitments this year to establish a national human rights institution, to take steps to combat violence against women, prohibit corporal punishment, and to enact laws to end child labour and stop sexual exploitation.
But Ms Bogner says much more needs to be done with continuing concerns about police abuses.
And she says last year the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women expressed concern that violence directed at women appears to be socially legitimized and accompanied by a culture of silence and impunity.
Severe forms of violence, including rape, sexual violence and sorcery-related attacks and killings are of particular concern to the UN body.
The report says those accused of witchcraft often face cruel and inhumane treatment.