That the House of Representatives—
sympathizes with the families of women and children victimized by sexual and other forms of gender-based violence in Haiti;
urges the treatment of the issue of violence against women and children as a priority for the United States Government’s humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Haiti;
recognizes that the problem of gender-based violence is a surmountable one;
affirms that prioritizing economic opportunities for Haitian women that enable them to lift themselves and their families out of poverty is a cost-effective way to help reduce gender-based violence;
recognizes the urgent opportunity to implement the new United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy and United States Strategy To Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally and on the ground in Haiti;
asserts its support for the passage of Haiti’s first comprehensive law on the prevention, punishment, and elimination of all forms of gender-based violence;
calls on the Government of Haiti to establish urgent plans that address the needs of vulnerable and unprotected children who are in situations of sexual exploitation, forced labor, or face sexual and domestic violence, and to take steps to immediately implement those plans, in consultation with grassroots organizations working specifically on the protection and promotion of the rights of children;
calls on the Government of Haiti to take steps to implement the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued in response to increased levels of sexual violence in camps for internally displaced persons on December 22, 2010, including—
ensuring participation and leadership of grassroots women’s groups in planning and implementing policies and practices to combat and prevent sexual violence and other forms of violence in the camps;
ensuring provision of comprehensive, affordable, adequate, and appropriate medical and psychological care in locations accessible to victims of sexual violence in camps for those internally displaced;
implementing effective security measures in displacement camps, such as providing street lighting, adequate patrolling in and around the camps, and a greater number of female security forces in police patrols in the camps and in police stations in proximity to the camps;
ensuring that public officials, such as police officers, prosecutors, and judges, responsible for responding to incidents of sexual violence receive specialized training from experienced Haitian and international women’s organizations with a proven track record in gender-sensitive protection enabling them to respond adequately to complaints of sexual violence with appropriate sensitivity and in a nondiscriminatory manner; and
maintaining effective special units within the police and the prosecutor’s office investigating cases of rape and other forms of violence against women and girls;
asserts its commitment to support the Haitian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in its efforts to—
build ministry capacity and facilitate gender-based violence subcluster meetings and initiatives as it transitions over to the Government of Haiti;
perform decentralized meetings, consultations, and outreach to women’s movements and community groups;
address issues of gender-based violence country-wide, including violence in internally displaced person camps, rural communities, and among children; and
strengthen gender assessments, gender budgets, and gender planning in collaboration with other Haitian Ministries, the Haitian Parliament, the Haitian Administration, the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, donors, and international nongovernmental organizations within the reconstruction process; and
asserts its support for the Government of Haiti, especially the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in its efforts to assess, amend, and renew its 5-year gender protection plan, which expired in October 2011, which includes support for the Haitian Government in its efforts to accomplish the following—
thoroughly assess the impact of the previous 5-year protection plan, including both pre- and post-earthquake analyses and perform diversified assessments in consultation with local, regional, and national women’s groups throughout the country, that will help gather decentralized data in both urban and rural zones;
perform specialized surveys and interviews in a significant sampling of internally displaced person camps and impoverished neighborhoods with high rates of gender-based violence with victims of rape and violence, the community groups that support them, and local officials in order to fully understand the needs and recommendations of these different populations and integrate these findings into a revised protection plan;
revise the existing Haitian protection plan based on the results of diversified and decentralized assessments and in direct consultation with national, regional, and local government officials and grassroots organizations, including women’s groups and international institutions that focus on solutions to gender-based violence; and
work with the Haitian Parliament and the Haitian Administration to amend, reintroduce, and pass into law a revised Haiti gender protection plan that reflects current post-earthquake realities, including the needs and recommendations of victims of gender-based violence and the community groups that support them, integrates provisions for judicial and medical services for gender-based violence victims, and reflects key findings of decentralized assessments in both urban and rural zones.