Palau, Oceania

The Republic of Palau is a poor island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles (800 km) east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles (3,200 km) south of Tokyo. Having emerged from United Nations trusteeship(administered by the United States) in 1994, it is one of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states. In English, the name is sometimes spelled Belau in accordance with the native pronunciation. See CIA report on Palau.

Women have traditionally enjoyed high social status in Palau because inheritance of property and traditional rank is through female bloodlines. Women today hold several key traditional leadership posts. Domestic violence is common, according to the U.S. State Department report, and is often fueled by alcohol and illegal drug abuse. Foreigners make up nearly 30 percent of Palau's population and 73 percent of the paid workforce, according to the May 2000 census.

According to this site, only male homosexuality is illegal with penalties of up to 10 years in jail. Details are not explained here.

 

 

Eight Pacific countries still have anti-gay laws

The Pacific island nation of Palau has decriminalized gay sex in a revision of its penal code. The new criminal laws came into force at the end of July but were only announced today. At Palau’s last Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, France, Norway and Spain all made recommendations… Read more »

Gay Palau News & Reports

1 Decriminalizing Homosexuality–first step to establish equality 10/11 October 11, 2011 – Office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights 1 Decriminalizing Homosexuality–first step to establish equality Op-ed by Matilda Bogner Decriminalizing homosexuality is an essential first step towards establishing genuine equality before the law Calls for truly universal application of human rights have been… Read more »