{"id":77,"area":"Oceania","region_name":"Tuvalu","iso_2":"TV","region_sub":null,"legal_code_title":"Penal Cod, Cap 8, Revised Edition from 1978","legal_code_title_citation_1":"Text of the law available at: http://tuvalu-legislation.tv/cms/images/LEGISLATION/PRINCIPAL/1965/1965-0007/PenalCode_1.pdf","legal_code_title_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body":"Section 153 - “Any person who: (a) commits buggery with another person or with an animal; or (b) permits a male person to commit buggery with him or her, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for 14 years.”\n\nSection 154 - “Any person who attempts to commit any of the offences specified in the last proceeding section [sic], or who is guilty of any assault with intent to commit the same, or any indecent assault upon any male person shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for 7 years.”\n\nSection 155 - “Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of a felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for 5 years.”","legal_code_body_citation_1":null,"legal_code_body_citation_2":null,"legal_code_body_citation_3":null,"legal_code_body_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments":"Despite the Czech Republic’s 1st cycle UPR recommendation to Tuvalu to decriminalise, as an act that would foster tolerance and assist with dealing with HIV, the delegation made reference to the difficulties of Constitutional change which, “... will need to be carefully considered”, rather than the legislative amendments that were being sought (para. 14). \nAgain, at its 2nd cycle UPR in June 2013, Tuvalu repeated the phrase “carefully considered” in relation to legislative repeal. It rejected recommendations from the United States and the United Kingdom to decriminalise consensual same-sex sexual activity, and responded by saying that, “... people with different sexual orientation did not suffer social discrimination but the question of legal protection in the law was controversial and would need to be carefully considered. Tuvalu was open to discussion”. \nIn 2013, Tuvalu voted in favour of the Asian and Pacific Ministerial Declaration on Population and Development, which included several references to SOGI-related issues, such as violence and discrimination against LGBT people, and included policy directions on the matter. In fact, in its oral statement, Tuvalu’s delegation stressed that the country turned a new page in its efforts to address key population issues and that it was addressing human issues that are inclusive in nature, upholding the human rights of every individual in this region. However, the 2016 US Department of State Report on Human Rights still indicates that social stigma or intimidation may prevent reporting of incidents of discrimination or violence based on sexual orientation.","legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_1":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_2":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_3":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_4":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_5":null,"legal_code_ilga_comments_citation_6":null,"legal_code_scruff_comments":null,"prison_term_min_length":null,"prison_term_max_length":14,"prison_term_notes":null,"prison_term_not_specified":null,"prison_term_years":true,"prison_term_life":null,"prison_term_mandatory":null,"fine_min_amount":null,"fine_max_amount":null,"fine_currency":null,"fine_notes":null,"fine_not_specified":null,"fine_amount":null,"fine_mandatory":null,"penalty_death":false,"penalty_death_notes":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment":null,"penalty_corporal_punishment_notes":null,"penalty_hard_labor":null,"penalty_hard_labor_notes":null,"penalty_banishment":null,"legal_code_explicitly_references_same_sex_acts":true,"legal_code_explicitly_references_acts_against_nature":null,"legal_code_differentiates_anal_sex_from_other_acts":true,"legal_code_indicates_hiv_as_aggravating_factor":null,"legal_code_indicates_age_of_consent_homosexual_acts_over_18":null,"existing_laws_used_to_target_gays_but_not_anti_gay":null,"islamic_sharia_law":null,"islamic_sharia_law_notes":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction":null,"laws_subregional_variance_or_contradiction_notes":null,"laws_not_specifically_homophobic":null,"laws_status_unclear":null,"laws_status_unclear_notes":null,"persecution_non_state_agents":null,"criminalization_under_consideration":null,"recently_decriminalized":null,"propaganda_law_under_consideration":null,"propaganda_law_title":null,"propaganda_law_title_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_body":null,"propaganda_law_body_citation_1":null,"propaganda_law_ilga_comments":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_summary":null,"legal_developments_2023_2024_citations":"ILGA World, Laws On Us: A Global Overview of Legal Progress and Backtracking on SOGIESC, 1st Ed. (Geneva, May 2024) (country not referenced in Ch.1/2 narrative).","status_change_type":"Unchanged (not mentioned in 2024 report)"}